Report claims people are 'deliberately injecting themselves with HIV in order to claim benefits'

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By Sam Adams - The Mirror




A growing number of people in Greece are deliberately injecting themselves with the HIV virus in order to claim benefits.

A new study has found that those taking the horrifying decision are hoping it will open the door to hundreds of euros a month in payments.

The rise was found by the World Health Organisation as it carried out a study into the impact of the global economic downturn.

The WHO said HIV rates had risen "significantly" in the debt-ridden country, according to Sky News.

Incredibly, it found that around half of new infections were self-inflicted, meaning people have been knowingly injecting themselves with the virus.

This, Sky reports, opens the way for them to claim €700 (£585) per month in benefits, and swifter access to drug rehabilitation.

The HIV infection rate has tripled in ten years, latest figures show, from 434 in 2003 to 1,180 last year.

The majority of infections were among men aged between 25 and 39.

The WHO also found that other poverty-linked activities had increase, such as prostitution, while Greeks were also less likely than they were in 2007 to visit a doctor or dentist.

A spokesman for the WHO said what is happening in Greece should be treated as a warning by other countries hard hit by the economic crisis.

[Goofy]