WHO admits mistake in report saying Greeks giving themselves HIV to claim benefits

The World Health Organization on Tuesday responded to criticism from a Greek media outlet following a report suggesting that 50 percent of all new HIV cases in Greece are self-inflicted by individuals looking to claim health benefits.

“The WHO wishes to point out that the statement in the report ‘Review of social determinants and the health divide in the WHO Europe Region’ is the consequence of an error in the editing phase of the document. The original source for the statement is a correspondence published in The Lancet by Alexander Kentikelenis and colleagues in September 2011 … WHO recognizes that there is no evidence suggesting that ‘deliberate self-infection with HIV’ goes beyond few, anecdotal cases,” the WHO said in response to Greek independent news outlet The Press Project on Tuesday.

The WHO’s report has been cited by dozens of media outlets around the world.