|
|
|
Sexual
Contact to become main factor in spread of HIV/AIDS
[Wuhan Daily, 11 Feb 2004]
China’s AIDS epidemic is expanding from high-risk groups into
the general population, and in the coming years heterosexual contact will
increasingly become the main route for HIV transmission.
Shen Jie, the vice-director of the Chinese CDC, spoke at an HIV/AIDS
leadership training forum on 1 February. She said China now has 840,000
people living with HIV or AIDS, and that while that is a low prevalence
that there are many risk factors like drug use, commercial sex, and other
factors evident in China. If effective prevention measures are not taken
among high-risk populations, if risky behavior is not reduced, then in
the next 3-5 years China will go from a localized to a widespread epidemic.
Shen Jie said that in recent years of the national epidemic cases
of full-blown AIDS and deaths have shown a clear increase. In the near
future, IV drug use has been one means of HIV transmission in China; HIV
transmission via blood donation has been basically controlled; with the
growth of loose sexual relations, heterosexual sexual relations will gradually
become an important means of HIV transmission in China.
According to Shen Jie, at present AIDS has already entered the
homosexual community. Some studies indicate that the rate of HIV infection
is as high as 1-5% among homosexuals. The vast majority of homosexual men
are bisexual, and are actually married and have families. This creates
a threat for their wives. As the number of people who contract HIV via
sex grows, the number women with HIV will grow, creating more mother to
child transmission.
|
|
|
|