China reported 132,545 cases of HIV infection by the end of August, Vice Health Minister Wang Longde announced yesterday.
The cases include 30,158 AIDS patients and 7,643 deaths. The provinces and autonomous regions of Yunnan, Henan, Guangxi, Xinjiang and Guangdong reported more than 10,000 cases each, accounting for 77 percent of the total. Wang addressed an AIDS conference in Zhengzhou in central China's Henan Province.
Drug abuse is still the main mode of transmission, accounting for 41.6 percent of infections. Wang said sex with infected persons probably accounted for the rest of the transmissions.
The infection rate in pregnancy increased from zero in 1997 to 0.26 percent in 2004, indicating the disease is spreading from high-risk groups to ordinary people, he said.
In late 2004, the ministry reported 106,990 HIV infections, including 23,955 AIDS patients. But experts say the reported cases are only 12.7 percent of the real number, suggesting China has about 840,000 HIV carriers, including 80,000 AIDS patients.
(Xinhua)