BEIJING, Nov 30, 2007 (AFP) - Up to 50 million Chinese people are at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS, United Nations officials warned Friday, a day after the government said the spread of the disease has slowed.
Chinese health minister Chen Zhu said Thursday there were an estimated 50,000 new HIV infections in 2007 and China has about 700,000 HIV/AIDS cases.
This compares with the estimated figure of 650,000 announced nearly two years ago based on work carried out by the Chinese government, the United Nations and the World Health Organisation.
But a day ahead of the World AIDS day, UN officials warned against complacency and cautioned that between 30 and 50 million people in China remained at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS.
"Thirty to 50 million are exposed to substantial risk of HIV infection today. It shows you the potential and magnitude of the issue for the future," said Bernhard Schwartlander, China coordinator of UNAIDS.
The fact that heterosexual contact was the top cause of new infections in 2007, accounting for 44.7 percent, should also raise an alarm.
"It is remarkable and important to recognise that, because that shows the potential of that spread is quite significant," he said.
Schwartlander said although the current overall number of HIV/AIDS cases seemed relatively low for China's 1.3 billion population, infections were rising in more and more areas.
The rapid increase in male homosexual activities, expanding sex industry and more widespread drug use in China in recent years have also contributed to the potential for further spread of the disease.
"We may be seeing fewer infections than we have seen in earlier years, but that can change rapidly again," he warned.
Independent AIDS activists have long warned that the official estimates underestimated the rampant spread of the disease and the real number of people suffering from the disease could be 10 times higher.
But Khalid Malik, UN resident coordinator disagreed.
"The (official) numbers are estimates first of all, they (the real figures) could be a little lower, a little higher, but definitely not in the multiples."
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