Ministry of Health Releases National HIV/AIDS update

The MOH announced today on the state of the national AIDS epidemic: The number of reported HIV-positive people increased, and the conditions remain for an increasingly serious AIDS epidemic.

The Ministry reported that:

1. There was an increase in the number of HIV infections reported. By 31 October 2006, the cumulative number of reported HIV infections (nationally) was 183,733. Among these, there were 40,667 AIDS cases and 12,464 deaths.

2. There are three transmission routes. From January till October 2006, among the reported infections, drug users (IDU) and sexual transmission accounted for 37% and 28% respectively, blood transmission accounted for 5.1% (these may be infections from the 1990's that are only now being reported), and mother-to-child transmission accounted for 1.4%.

3. Increased sexual transmission. Surveillance testing data reveals that the HIV infection rate among commercial sex workers was 0.02% in 1996, but that at 9 surveillance sites for commercial sex workers in 2005, the infection rate was higher than 1.0%. Surveys among Male homosexuals reveal that at present the rate of HIV infection among this population is between 1% and 4%. In some high prevalence areas, pre-natal and pre-marital testing reveals that the HIV infection rate is already higher than 1%, a relatively high infection rate.

4. Conditions remain for an expanded AIDS epidemic. Surveillance data reveals that at present, the rate of condom use among commercial sex workers is 38.7%, and that the rate of needle sharing among injecting drug users is 50.8%. In addition, the mobility of HIV-positive people, the large-scale mobility of large populations in China, and the increased rate of sexual infections are all important factors in the continued spread of HIV/AIDS