The province's minister of health has promised "aggressive measures" to respond to an alarming increase in the number of people testing positive for HIV, the virus that leads to AIDS.

In a news release on Friday, Don McMorris said more resources will be made available to support new and existing initiatives aimed at reducing the frequency of people contracting HIV.

Earlier in the week, CBC News broke the story about a 40 per cent rise in the number of people testing positive for HIV in Saskatchewan in 2008 compared with the previous year.

"Our government is supporting aggressive measures to respond to this important public health issue," the health minister said in the news release.

Saskatchewan's chief medical health officer, Dr. Moira McKinnon, had convened a group of health experts and leaders from different community agencies to examine what action should be undertaken.

In the release, McKinnon identified three areas of particular attention: building capacity, enhancing capability and engaging communities.

"It's important for community leaders to play a role in changing attitudes toward communicable diseases," McKinnon said in the release.

The meetings of experts, which included people from outside the province who had faced similar issues on HIV, identified injection drug users as "most at risk for HIV."