China's AIDS epidemic shows no signs of abating with an estimated 70,000 new HIV infections occurring in 2005, according to a report released by the Chinese Ministry of Health, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization.
The latest data indicate that 650,000 (range 540,000 to 760,000) people are now living with HIV in China and that overall HIV prevalence is now estimated at approximately 0.05 per cent.
UNAIDS and WHO stress that the prevalence of HIV is not falling in China. The difference between the 2003 estimate of 840,000 (range 650,000 to 1,020,000) and the 2005 estimate of 650,000 (range 540,000 to 760,000) is due to improved HIV data collection and a better estimate of the most 'at-risk populations' in the country -- including injecting drug users and sex workers.
UNAIDS and WHO consider that the methods used in the 2005 revision of the national estimates are appropriate. China has greatly expanded and improved its surveillance system in recent years from 194 sites in 2003 to 329 in 2005, and increased the population groups covered. More data sources are now considered, including population size estimation data, special studies and behavioural surveillance.
The new numbers should not mask the fact that HIV infections are on the rise. New infections are increasing by 70,000 (range 60,000-80,000) per year. An upward trend can be seen if the figures for 2003 are recalculated using more complete data and better estimates of the size of groups at risk of being infected. There is clearly no room for complacency. Intensified prevention efforts are needed to stop the further spread of HIV in China and to keep the overall HIV prevalence low.