Over two lakh people died in China due to HIV/AIDS this year

Over two lakh people have died in China due to HIV/AIDS this year with 94 per cent of them contracting the disease due to sexual transmission, according to official figures released here today.

About 6.54 lakh people are fighting the disease which showed signs of increase among the youth, the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said, adding that more transmissions among young and senior males were noted.

From January to September, 2,321 students, aged between 15 to 24 years, tested positive for HIV/AIDS, 4.1 times more than in 2010.  In addition, 13,000 men aged above 60 years discovered that they were carrying the virus, 3.6 times that of 2010, it said. About 96,000 new cases were reported in the first nine months, Xinhua news agency reported.

In the same period, heterosexual sexual transmission accounted for 66.7% of all cases, and homosexual activities accounted for 27.5% of transmissions, said the CDC.