Alongside China’s breathtaking economic development, it is undergoing some tough time on the health front, especially on account of AIDS.
International agencies have warned China that it stood on the brink of an explosive AIDS epidemic. Several estimates including those by the UN show that the number of HIV infected people could soar to 10 millions by the end of the decade if there is no effective action.The oil-rich Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has the fourth largest number HIV/AIDS-infected people on the Chinese mainland. Most of the region's infections are found in Urumqi, its capital.
Urumgi recorded 2,051 new HIV cases last year, or six new cases a day, it has been reported.
Since the detection of the first HIV case in the region only 12 years ago, it has registered the steepest annual rise in HIV infections in the country and it is mainly transmitted through illegal drug users sharing contaminated needles, officials stated.
The government is planning to promote the use of condoms in all hotels and entertainment venues and also plan to set up more methadone treatment clinics and consulting offices in public hospitals this year, it is stated.
According to China's Ministry of Health, the number of officially reported HIV/AIDS cases grew to 183,733 nationwide at the end of October last year, up nearly 30 per cent than the previous year. The ministry also says that at the end of last October, 12,464 people had died in China of HIV-related illnesses.
Source-Medindia
SRM
