The total number of people in China living with HIV and AIDS had reached 820,756 by the end of June, up 14 percent year-on-year, according to officials at a national conference on HIV/AIDS in southwest China's Yunnan Province.
The 5th National Conference on HIV/AIDS held from Thursday to Saturday in Kunming, the provincial capital, welcomed more than 3,000 representatives from home and abroad to discuss new challenges and trends related to HIV/AIDS prevention and control.
Wang Jianjun, a member of the Party Leadership Group of China's National Health Commission, addresses the 5th National Conference on HIV/AIDS held in the city of Kunming, southwest China's Yunnan Province, September 27, 2018. /Photo via National Health Commission
According to the National Health Commission, about 80.4 percent of HIV/AIDS patients in China had received anti-virus treatment as of the end of last year.
Figures from the commission showed that by the end of June, a total of 253,031 people in China had died of the virus ever since it was first discovered, but the number of HIV infections caused by blood transfusions had radically been reduced to zero.
In the second quarter of this year alone, 40,104 cases of people living with HIV/AIDS were newly reported, with about 93.1 percent having contracted the virus through sex.
China has established an initial network for HIV/AIDS prevention and testing, covering both urban and rural areas, Wang announced at the conference.
Medical workers from local health institute and volunteers join hands to promote awareness of HIV/AIDS in rural areas of southwest China's Chongqing, November 30, 2016. /VCG Photo
According to last year's conference held in Guangzhou, China had nearly 720,000 people living with HIV and AIDS by June of 2017.
(Top image: VCG Photo)