220,000 Chinese Infected With HIV Mostly Because Of Unsafe Sex, Same-Sex Couplings

Beijing, China (AHN) - The Deputy Director of the Chinese Center for Disease and Prevention, Wang Ning, on Tuesday confirmed that at least 220,000 people from 31 provinces mainland China are infected with the deadly HIV.

He stressed that the total number represents most cases are significantly attributed to sexual transmission between people of the opposite sex at 37.9 pct, and same sex couplings at 3.2 pct.

"While the numbers of cases among high-risks groups - drug users and prostitutes - had fallen, the general population had become increasingly at risk, mostly because of unsafe sex," Wang said in a report by Xinhua News.

The health official identified at least five provinces with the most number of recorded cases including Yunnan, Guangxi, Xinjiang and Guangdong. The areas with highest number of AIDS patients are Henan, Guangxi, Yunnan, Anhui and Hubei.

He expressed alarm over a griming statistics that at least 3,000 Chinese get infected with HIV every month. Within the year alone, more than 3,000 Chinese had died from the killer disease.

Last year, the Chinese government along with the World health Organization jointly estimated that 650,000 people living in mainland China were infected with HIV, including about 75,000 AIDS patients.

"This year alone, the center has recorded 32,235 new HIV/AIDS cases, in a ratio of about four to one", Wang noted.