December 3rd, 2007Sex, Now the Main Cause of Chinese HIV Infections
HIV entered China in the 1990s mainly through the non checked blood plasma-buying network and infected transfusions in hospitals. But now, sex has bypassed drug syringes as the main factor of HIV transmission in China, and this could lead to a booming of the infection spread from high-risk categories to the overall population, as signaled by a new report made by UNAIDS and a committee of the State Council, China’s Cabinet, and released on World AIDS Day.
There were 50,000 new Chinese HIV cases registered in 2007, raising the overall number of HIV patients in China to 700,000.
“Despite a fall in the rate of new cases since the data were last collected in 2005, infections were still spreading, and sex—not intravenous drug use—was now the main form of transmission. China’s HIV epidemic remains one of low prevalence overall but with pockets of high infection,” said Health Minister Chen Zhu. Read the rest of this entry »




