China Reports 42 Percent Rise in HIV Cases

Today, China's health ministry reported a cumulative total of 126,808 HIV infections, including 28,789 AIDS cases, through June 2005. This represents a 42 percent increase from the last reported total of 89,067 HIV cases through September 2004. Henk Bekedam, the World Health Organization representative in China, said the increase appeared to reflect increased government testing, not an overall increase in infections.

Government figures show an estimated total of 840,000 HIV/AIDS patients in China. Some UN experts put the figure at about 1.5 million.

Last year, China's health ministry launched a campaign to find and test former blood donors in poor, rural areas of central China. Some 20,000 more cases were found in the central province of Henan by November, state media reported. Unsafe blood collection and usage has fueled HIV transmission in China. Other factors include intravenous drug use and increasing sexual transmission.

At the end of last year, a UNAIDS report said sharp rises in the number of reported HIV cases since 2002 also "reflected the more rigorous HIV screening conducted among former commercial blood and plasma donors in Henan and injecting drug users in Yunnan during this period, as well as the ongoing expansion of the epidemic."

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