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 Tokyo - Japan's government-backed Aids agency called Wednesday for better awareness about the disease after new HIV infections hit a record high, even though the number remained low by global standards.

 A total of 914 people tested positive for HIV last year and another 390 developed full-blown Aids, adding up to a one-year record 1,304 new cases, the Japanese Foundation for Aids Prevention said.

 Man-to-man sex was the most common way of transmission, with 15 times more men than women among the newly infected.

 The figures put Japan at odds with most other major developed countries, where HIV infections are going down and the majority of new cases are among heterosexuals.

 "This is because Japan is still lagging well behind compared with Europe or the US in teaching people about the virus and with sex education in schools," a Foundation spokesman said.

 "There are also cultural factors preventing people from wearing condoms, asking their partners to wear one or having their partners get tested before intercourse," she said.

 The number of new cases rose 8.8 per cent from the previous year.

 However, in one bright side to the data out Tuesday, Japanese going in for free tests rose 16.2 per cent from the previous year, suggesting that awareness about HIV is gradually rising.

 Despite the high growth rate, the island nation's HIV-positive population remains low by global standards.

 Japan, with a population of 127.7 million, now has 13,778 known people who are HIV positive, acccording to the Foundation.

 Some 39.5 million people around the world were living with HIV in 2006, with 8.6 million of them in Asia, according to UNAids.

Agence France Presse