The HIV rate among foreigners in Italy is six times higher than among Italians, according to a study published here on Tuesday.
The report, compiled by a key health ministry body, found that 69 out of every 100,000 foreigners living in Italy were infected with the HIV virus.
This compared to just 8.7 cases among every 100,000 Italians, the AIDS division of the Higher Health Institute noted.
The study, which collated statistics gathered between 1992 and 2004, found that foreigners account for 19% of all new diagnoses of the virus in Italy.
More than half these cases are among people from Africa and a quarter from Latin America.
Half were contracted through heterosexual relations and men were more likely to be infected than women, the study found. The average age of those newly identified with the virus was 31.
''The recent increase in immigration to economically developed countries is an issue that requires more attention in studies looking at the spread of the HIV virus,'' said the report's coordinator, Barbara Suligoi.
''A variety of factors mean that immigrant populations are more vulnerable to the virus - first and foremost, the fact they come from countries where HIV is rife''.
A recent study by the Italian section of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) attributed part of the problem to a lack of education about the virus among foreigners.
In a health ministry-backed study of 1,400 people from North Africa, central Europe and Latin America, IOM found that 25% believed HIV could be transmitted by a hug or through food.
Over 42% did not know that medication existed to prevent HIV developing into AIDS and help fight the symptoms of the virus.
Italy provides free, anonymous HIV testing on its national health service, but less than half the sample was aware of this.
According to IOM, this suggests that ''effective education and prevention campaigns'' could play an important role in reducing the spread of the virus among foreign communities living in Italy.
Another key issue identified by the organization was prejudice. Fear of rejection and hostility leads many people to ''bury their head in the sand'' and avoid testing.
''We need initiatives to reduce the stigma and discrimination that people living with HIV and AIDS still suffer today,'' said the head of the IOM Rome office, Peter Schatzer.
The most recent figures for the virus in Italy suggest it is killing fewer people than in the past, although the overall number of infections is on the rise.
In 2007 there were 200 deaths from AIDS-related illnesses in Italy, compared to 4,581 in 1995, when the epidemic was its peak.
However, there are still around 4,000 new cases of HIV diagnosed each year, two thirds of which contracted through sexual relations.
