Female HIV/Aids Infection Rates Increase

Chinese HIV/Aids researchers are increasing the focus on women following a sharp increase in the number of females infected with the diseases.

During the 1990s in China’s central Henan province the male-to-female ratio of HIV/Aids was 1 in 5, the BBC reported. Now the figure is closer to 50 percent.

The new focus on women is part of a government initiative marking Monday’s observance of World Population Day, the China Daily reported.

Health Minister Dr. Gao Qiang blamed the increasing numbers on a lack of knowledge about the disease, especially among women in poor rural areas. Women on the whole know less about the disease than men, Gao told a recent Beijing conference, adding fewer than 40 percent of women in rural areas know how to prevent Aids.

China estimates 840,000 of its citizens are infected with HIV, including 80,000 with AIDS. But the BBC said international groups believe the actual figure is much higher.