Researchers have found that Australia's mining boom is contributing to a significant increase in HIV infections among wealthy heterosexual miners and businessmen in resource-rich states who travel to Asia for vacations. According to a new national HIV-AIDS report, rates of HIV infections in Australia have risen by nearly 50 percent over the past eight years. The report, released by the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research, stated that in 2007, Australia had 27,331 cases of HIV infection and 10,230 cases of AIDS. While homosexual men still make up the majority of new infections, there has been a notable increase in cases among heterosexual men in Western Australia and Queensland, two states known for their mining industries. Many miners have fly-in, fly-out shifts where they work for several weeks followed by a few weeks off, and some are choosing to spend their downtime in Asia, according to researchers. Don Baxter, the executive director of the Australian Federation of AIDS, states that a significant number of new infections are among heterosexual men from wealthy resource states who are traveling to Asia for holidays and engaging in unprotected sex. Baxter notes that men from Western Australia are likely visiting Southeast Asian countries, while those from Queensland are visiting Papua New Guinea, which experts warn is at risk of an HIV-AIDS epidemic. Baxter also mentions that there has been a 68 percent increase in HIV infections among heterosexual males in Western Australia over the last three years, equivalent to the number of gay men infected in 2007 in the same region. Baxter stated that the government of Western Australia and the AIDS council were collaborating with mining companies to introduce safe sex education programs for miners. Health officials reported on Wednesday that a group of men in Cairns, Queensland had contracted HIV after having unprotected sex with women in Papua New Guinea. The Cairns Sexual Health Service confirmed that six men, aged between 47 and 66, had tested positive for HIV in the last 10 months. Dr. Darren Russell, director of the Cairns Sexual Health Service, warned that this small cluster could be the beginning of a larger outbreak due to the generalized HIV epidemic in PNG, putting these men at higher risk. He predicted that the numbers of cases would continue to increase in this environment. Australia's AIDS federation is urging the government to boost funding for AIDS prevention programs in order to curb the increasing rate of infections. The state of New South Wales, which is home to Sydney's largest homosexual population, has seen steady infection rates over the past ten years due to consistent funding for safe sex programs. On the other hand, states like Victoria and Queensland, which have cut funding, have experienced significant increases in infection rates. According to Baxter, investing in these programs has proven to at least stabilize the rate of HIV infections.