/ 21 November 2007

Aids on the rise in China

Aids-related deaths in South Africa: 2 312 761 at noon on November 21 2007

China’s capital has registered 973 new HIV/Aids cases so far this year, a jump of more than 50% from 2006, state media reported on Wednesday.

‘Incidents of the disease are still on the rise in Beijing and it is spreading from the high-risk groups of people to the general population,” Jin Dapeng, head of the Beijing Municipal Health Bureau, was quoted as saying.

Preventing the spread of the disease among migrants from rural areas — who often have no fixed address or access to healthcare — was a new challenge, Jin said.

The United Nations estimates that the number of HIV/Aids sufferers in China is about 650 000. Although the prevalence is low, Aids prevention groups say the situation among some pockets of the population and in some regions is serious.

Source: Reuters