Number of Chinese HIV and Aids patients rise by 14 per cent
More than 100,000 new year-on-year cases recorded, most of which were sexually transmitted
The number of people living with HIV/Aids in China has risen by 14 per cent, with most cases transmitted through sex rather than blood transfusions, state media said Saturday.
More than 820,000 people had Aids or were HIV-positive at the end of June, up by 100,000 year-on-year, the official Xinhua news agency said, citing national health officials at an HIV/Aids conference.
More than 40,000 new HIV/Aids cases were reported in the second quarter alone, with 93.1 per cent having contracted the virus through sex.
The number of HIV infections caused by blood transfusions has “essentially been reduced to zero”, according to Xinhua.
China has been hit by blood transfusion scandals in the past.