PREGNANT women will receive more education on HIV and AIDS at mother and child clinics in a bid to prevent them transmitting the virus to their babies, the Health Department said.
A baby was born with full-blown AIDS late last year, bringing the number of mother-to-child infections in Hong Kong to three. The first baby to be infected in the womb was born in 1994.
Previously, children had only caught the virus through transfusions of infected blood.
The Health Department's consultant on AIDS, Dr Lee Shui-shan, warned that more children would be infected by their mothers. 'The figure is expected to rise continuously each year, although it will not be dramatic. This is because we are seeing more women catching the disease in Hong Kong,' he said.
The last quarter of 1995 saw a record increase in the number of people diagnosed as HIV-positive, with 122 new cases bringing the number of people in the territory known to be carrying the virus to 642. Of those, 175 people have AIDS.
The ratio of male to female sufferers fell from from 7:1 in 1993 to 4:1 last year.
Of the new HIV cases, 25 are women. And the ratio of HIV infection among homosexuals and bisexuals to heterosexuals also reversed last year from 6:1 in 1985 to 1:2.7.