China Records 87,000 HIC Cases From Jan To Oct 2014 - Report

By Niam Seet Wei BEIJING (China), Dec 1 (Bernama) -- China has recorded a total of 87,000 HIV infection cases from January to October this year, said the head of the National Centre for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention Wu Zunyou. "Among them, heterosexual transmission accounted for 66 per cent of these cases while 25 per cent were from homosexual transmission," he told an online interview organised by China's National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) on Monday. However, he said among 31 cities surveyed, the number homosexual men infected with HIV accounted for an average of 51 per cent of the total new infection cases. Wu said in northern Chinese cities like Beijing, Harbin and Changchun, the percentage of homosexual men infected with HIV accounted for more than 80 per cent, while homosexual transmission in smaller cities accounted for one-third of the total cases. He said in rural areas, the percentage of heterosexual HIV transmission accounted for 75 per cent of the total HIV infection. Wu said a survey conducted by the AIDS/STD Control and Prevention centre revealed that among 800,000 polled participants, the percentage of HIV infection among gay men had seen an upward trajectory, which rose to 7.7 per cent in 2014 from 1.4 per cent in 2005. The percentage of HIV infection among drug abusers however, saw a decline to 3.3 per cent in 2014 from 7.5 per cent in 2005, he said. As today (Monday) is the World AIDS Day, the NHFPC said China has reported some 497,000 HIV/AIDS cases by the end of October since the first case was reported in 1985. According to the latest official figure, some 154,000 people have died from the disease. Wu said there are some 35 million people living with HIV today, and China was one of the top 15 countries. China has set up 3,413 anti-virus treatment institutions in 31 provincial-level regions, while more than 9,000 voluntary HIV test stations have been set up nationwide. --BERNAMA