Ten million people in China could be infected with HIV by the end of the decade as the country approaches the brink of an "explosive" epidemic of the disease, a UN study warned today.
The country is "on the verge of a catastrophe that could result in unimaginable suffering, economic loss and social devastation," the report entitled HIV/Aids: China's Titanic Peril, predicted.
The study estimated that between 800,000 and 1.5 million people were infected with the Aids virus last year. Most of them were infected through intravenous drug use or poor sanitation in China’s blood-buying industry.
The figure could soar to 10 million by 2010, Ms Siri Tellier, chairwoman of the UN group which prepared the report, said.
"It is more than a disease ... it’s a disaster," she said. "Once you have a certain concentration of it, it will hit the general population."
The report recommends that the Chinese government spends more on education and prevention and brings the topic openly before the public to remove the stigma of infection so that more people would seek testing and treatment.
AFP