BEIJING, Dec 1 (AFP) - Sex between men has become a significant cause of HIV infections in China but half of Chinese gays mistakenly believe they are safe from the virus, according to a first-ever government survey.
The survey estimated there were five to 10 million gay men in China and that 1.35 percent of them were infected with the HIV virus that causes AIDS, according to the Xinhua news agency Wednesday.
Infection rates among gay men were expected to rise rapidly unless prevention efforts were undertaken because many of them have extremely limited knowledge of the disease, practise unprotected sex and have multiple sex partners, experts said.
"Gay people have been ignored for a long time in China and this is very dangerous," said Lu Fan, head of China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention's center of AIDS control and prevention, which carried out the study.
Half of the previously little-studied group have more than one sex partner and casual, unprotected sex is common. Some men have more than 100 partners, said Lu.
But just as many believe they are free from HIV/AIDS, the survey found.
They also risk spreading the disease to women because many of them are married or have female partners, said experts.
Social stigma keeps many gay men in the closet, with many getting married to avoid social pressure.
Outreach and studies of the group are difficult because many gays shy away from revealing their sexual preference for fear of discrimination, said Lu.
Information for the survey was collected from pubs, parks, public bathhouses and Internet cafes where gays congregate.
Male homosexuals comprised 11 percent of China's HIV cases in 2003, according to government figures. Drug injection was the chief transmission route, followed by commercial blood donors, sexual contact among heterosexuals and gay sex.
While China maintains it has an estimated 840,000 HIV/AIDS sufferers as of late 2003, international AIDS experts say the actual number is much higher.
Without strong government efforts to address the epidemic, the World Health Organisation has predicted that the numbers of Chinese infected with HIV/AIDS could grow to 10 million by 2010.
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