China Announces Jump in AIDS Cases

On Thursday, the Chinese government announced a 17 percent increase in the number of Chinese infected with HIV and sharply raised its estimate of the disease's spread, saying up to 850,000 people could be infected, and 100,000 might have died. There are 30,736 people confirmed to be infected with HIV and 1,594 people with AIDS, although the true number of AIDS cases could be as high as 200,000, the official Xinhua News Agency said. The number of confirmed cases was more than 17 percent above the figure announced in mid-2001, while the estimate of people with the virus was more than 40 percent higher than the previous official estimate of 600,000.

The report noted that authorities believe China's official AIDS statistics are far lower than the true figure because of poor reporting by local health officials. "Experts believe that over half of the 200,000 AIDS patients have lost their lives," Xinhua said. The report added to growing official candor in recent months about the spread of the disease in China after years of denying that it was a problem. The most dramatic disclosure came in August, when the Health Ministry said the number of confirmed cases had jumped 67 percent in the first half of 2001.

Intravenous drug use accounted for 68 percent of infections, while poor sanitation at companies that buy blood accounted for 9.7 percent, Xinhua said. That was the most specific official estimate yet of people infected by China's blood-buying industry, which is blamed for spreading the virus to thousands of poor, rural villagers.

China held its first AIDS conference in November, and a state-owned pharmaceutical company has announced plans to produce low cost AIDS drugs. But despite increased openness by health officials at the national level, many local leaders are suspected of suppressing information about the disease for fear of acknowledging prostitution and drug trafficking in their areas.

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