Today is the 21st World AIDS Day. Yesterday, the Ministry of Health announced that, as of September 30, a cumulative total of 264,302 AIDS cases have been reported in China. According to estimates by the Ministry of Health and other units on the AIDS epidemic in China, there are about 700,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in China, and among these, possibly 440,000 people are unaware that they have already been infected.
65% of respondents do not want to live with AIDS patients
The latest survey data shows that some members of the public in China still discriminate against AIDS patients. Thirty percent of respondents believe that children infected with AIDS should not study at the same school as other children; nearly 65% of respondents do not wish to live with AIDS patients.
Wang Weizhen, deputy director of the AIDS Prevention Department under the Disease Control Bureau of the Ministry of Health, introduced that according to estimates by health departments, there may be 440,000 people who do not know that they have already been infected. This situation arises because of fear of discrimination, which prevents them from getting tested or revealing their status.
86.3% of counties, districts, and cities have reported AIDS cases.