Center for Disease Control and Prevention of the east China city of Hangzhou revealed Tuesday that half of HIV infections among the older group were reported over the past three years. Infections among males over 50 are increasing each year.

Earlier this month at a news conference held by China's National Health Commission, Han Mengjie, researcher at Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) also said that China had witnessed an increasing number of HIV infections among the older age group in recent years.

 According to Han, HIV infections especially among males aged over 60 have dramatically increased. China CDC's data shows that the number of HIV diagnoses over the age of 50 had reached 73,126 in 2016, compared to 14,420 in 2010. 

UNAIDS estimated in 2016 that the number of people aged 50 years and over living with HIV had been increasing for all high-, low- and middle-income countries. And it projected a further rise from 2016 to 2020.

The reason for the increasing infections among the older group in China, according to Han, lies in the fact that some of them lack knowledge of AIDS, including how it affects health and its ways of spreading, and that others do not realize the severity of the disease.

According to UN's official website, the diagnosis of HIV and AIDS among older people is difficult because those symptoms are likely to be seen caused by other illnesses. Publicity of the disease usually does not target the age group, leading to their lack of knowledge of AIDS. U.S. department of Health and Human Services also revealed that older people are less likely to get tested for HIV because health care providers may not think to ask them about their HIV risk factors and that some of them also feel embarrassed to discuss the issue.

In January 2017, China released a new initiative to prevent AIDS over the next five years. It puts the older people on the list of key populations, along with students and migrants.