HIV-students on the rise in China

Beijing: China is witnessing a rise in the number of registered HIV infected students, with homosexual transmission emerging as a major cause of new infections, a government official has said.

A total of 1,700 students were reported HIV positive in 2012, a 24.5-percent rise year on year, said Yu Jingjin, an official with the country’s National Health and Family Planning Commission.


Yu said 64.8 percent contracted the virus through sex with people of the same gender. Eighty-seven percent of HIV cases were sexually transmitted.

In China, more than 7,000 students are HIV carriers or AIDS patients, Yu said during an event to promote HIV prevention on campuses.