China Announces Over 100,000 New Cases of HIV/AIDS in 2014
China declares that it has at least 104,000 new cases of HIV/AIDS nationwide in 2014 as reported on Thursday by China's state-run Xinhua News Agency based on the data released by the National Health and Family Planning Commission with its deputy director, Wang Guoqiang, Yibada reports.
These figures mean a surge of the overall infection rate last year particularly among the elderly and young students. The increase is said to account for 14.8% or a round-off of 15% in relation to 2013's statistics.
A report from the Wallstreet Journal Blog, however, said that infection rate has still remained controlled at low levels despite the increase of number of those infected with HIV/AIDS.
With this China wants to lobby anti-viral treatments for the deadly virus and has been hopeful to achieve 21% improvement since 2014 according to vice head Wang Guoqiang.
FT.com said that there were already at least half a million people in China diagnosed to have HIV/AIDS in the early months until August of 2014. Some additional 70,000 newly-diagnosed patients were reported later on.
On the World AIDS Day celebration in China, the WHO pointed out factors contributing to the rise of HIV/AIDS cases such as the increase of homosexual and male sex workers in China, most of them are not willing to undergo HIV testing.
Sexual transmission of the virus as well as contaminated needles shared between mothers and infants are also leading factors.
Meanwhile, reports from Yahoo said that discrimination against HIV/AIDS infected patients has been very rampant in the community causing a stigma and a prevailing hesitation to undergo HIV testing and diagnosis.
