104,000 New HIV/AIDS Cases Diagnosed in China in 2014

104,000 new cases of HIV/AIDS have been diagnosed in China in 2014. This figure is a 14 percent increase on the number of new cases diagnosed in 2013. Chinese health officials have said that growth rates are particularly high among gay men and male sex workers, who are marginalized and stigmatized by mainstream society.

Last year, China's National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention estimated that as many as 810,000 people are living with HIV/AIDS in the country, including those who have not yet been diagnosed, out of a total population of 1.36 billion. Chinese state-run media said last month that half a million people, that is less than 0.04 percent of China's total population, were living with AIDS or HIV, although hundreds of thousands more are thought to be undiagnosed.

Discrimination against people with the virus remains an issue at schools, hospitals, workplaces and other establishments, a factor that experts say hampers efforts to diagnose and treat it.

The United Nations' anti-AIDS body does not carry 2013 statistics for China on its website, but said in a 2012 report that HIV/AIDS prevalence remains 'low' in the country compared to global averages.

Source: Medindia