Greetings! Please Share & Subcribe.
GAY and bisexual men account for around one in every three new cases of HIV in China, according to the latest official statistics released by the Chinese Ministry of Health.
About 5 per cent of the group - officially termed men who have sex with men, or MSM - are living with the virus, which is a rate that is 88 times higher than the national HIV prevalence rate of 0.057 per cent.
The problem is particularly acute in large urban centres, with the prevalence rate in some south-western cities reaching almost 20 per cent.
However, the statistics also show that less than half of all gay and bisexual men have access to HIV screening, while about 15 per cent of those who are infected are not receiving treatment.
'Cities are at the heart of China's development and progress and must remain at the forefront of its HIV response,' said Michel Sidibe, executive director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/Aids (UNAIDS), during a workshop about the HIV impact on MSM on Saturday in Chengdu, capital of south-west China's Sichuan province.
'Through bold action cities can lead the way to achieving the UNAIDS vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths,' he said, according to a UNAIDS news release. 'We hope that over the next year, many more Chinese cities will implement MSM strategies.'
ST
0 Comments