Upto 50 million Chinese at risk from AIDS: UN

BEIJING: Upto 50 million Chinese people are at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS, United Nations officials warned on Friday, a day after the government said the spread of the disease has slowed.

Chinese Health Minister Chen Zhu said on Thursday there were an estimated 50,000 new HIV infections in 2007 and China has about 700,000 HIV/AIDS cases.

This compares with the estimated figure of 650,000 announced nearly two years ago based on work carried out by the Chinese government, the United Nations and the World Health Organisation.

But a day ahead of the World AIDS day, UN officials warned against complacency and cautioned that between 30 and 50 million people in China remained at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS.

"Thirty to 50 million are exposed to substantial risk of HIV infection today. It shows you the potential and magnitude of the issue for the future," said Bernhard Schwartlander, China coordinator of UNAIDS.

The fact that heterosexual contact was the top cause of new infections in 2007, accounting for 44.7 per cent, should also raise an alarm.

"It is remarkable and important to recognise that, because that shows the potential of that spread is quite significant," he said.

Schwartlander said although the current overall number of HIV/AIDS cases seemed relatively low for China's 1.3 billion population, infections were rising in more and more areas.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com