Beijing Registers 365 New HIV Carriers, AIDS Patients

Beijing registers 365 new HIV carriers, AIDS patients

BEIJING, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) — Beijing found 365 new HIV carriers and AIDS patients in the first seven months of the year, making the total number 2,515 by the end of July in the Chinese capital, a senior health official said Wednesday.

The newly registered cases include 311 HIV carriers and 54 AIDS patients, up 53.2 percent and 42.1 percent, respectively, over the corresponding period last year, according to Liang Wannian, deputy head with the Beijing Municipal Sanitary Department.

Among all the HIV carriers in Beijing, 486 are local citizens and 119 are foreigners.

Intravenous drug-use and unsafe sex are the two major channels of HIV transmission among Chinese, according to the official.

About 50 AIDS patients have received free treatment in two specially designated hospitals so far.

To curb the spread of the killer disease, the municipal government began offering free consultations and tests on the HIV virus in August last year.

In addition, Beijing has publicly promoted the use of condoms and launched a clean needle exchange project.

Official statistics show that among China’s 840,000 people living with HIV/AIDS, 45 percent get infected through drug injection, 25 percent through blood transfusions and 30 percent through unsafe sex.