By She Le, from China, CCTV International, who attended a TRF 'Reporting HIV/Aids' course in Beijing, November 2009
Sexual transmission has become the top means for the spread of HIV virus in China, accounting for 7 in 10 new infections, China’s Health Minister Chen Zhu said Tuesday.
"At present, the number of infections keeps rising in the nation, but at a slower rate, compared to previous years," Chen said. "However, sexual transmission is now the primary means of infection, especially among MSM (men having sex with men)."
Estimates by China’s Ministry of Health and the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS showed that the world’s most populous nation now has an estimated 740,000 people living with HIV/AIDS, an increase of 40,000 from 2007.
According to Chen, 70% of the new infections are caused by sexual transmission. Of these infections, 35.5 % come from homosexual encounters, a number nearly triple the 2007 rate of 12.2%.
China's gay population is estimated between five and ten million.
Michel Sidib, executive director of UNAIDS, said MSM transmission is troubling. “In some south western urban areas, up to 20% of the MSM population is HIV-positive today," Sidib said, citing results of a survey.
He added that about 70% of men who have sex with men had more than one sexual partner in the past six months, and only 30% were using condoms.
China has decided to give special consideration to the traditionally marginalized groups such as homosexual people and injecting drug users by stepping up efforts in education and prevention, officials said.
The central government has been crafting policies to provide free voluntary blood tests, free anti-retroviral treatments for impoverished AIDS patients, free medical advice and treatment for pregnant women and infants, free education for AIDS orphans and governmental care for AIDS patients who lived in poverty.
However, implementation of these policies encountered many challenges. In local or rural areas, preconditions are attached to free drugs and treatments, often in the form of extra charges, said Murong Feng, leader of a voluntary support group for people living with HIV/AIDS.
Murong, HIV positive himself, said the lack of training and infrastructure barred people with HIV/AIDS in remote areas from getting affordable drugs and treatments.
"Issues such as access to subsidized treatment and second-line antiviral medication are at the front of our minds,” said He Tiantian, who heads the Women's Network against AIDS, a civil society supporting females living with HIV/AIDS.
He, also HIV positive, said communication and cooperation between authorities and civil societies should be strengthened so there is a united front against HIV/AIDS.