A volunteer in Yangzhou, East China's Jiangsu Province teaches students make badges of red ribbons ahead of World AIDS Day. Photo: VCG

The treatment coverage and effective rate of HIV treatment have reached over 90 percent, and the rapid rise of the infectious disease in key areas has been basically contained. The overall epidemic situation in the country remains at a low prevalence level, the director of Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) stated on Thursday, a day before the 36th World AIDS Day.

While the transmission of HIV through blood transfusion and blood products has been effectively blocked, and the transmission through injection drug use and mother-to-child transmission has been effectively controlled, the current situation of HIV prevention and control in China remains severe, Shen Hongbing, director of the China CDC, said at an event for the World AIDS Day on Thursday. 

He pointed out that some areas still suffer from a heavy epidemic of infection, and certain populations continue to have a high infection rate, referring to complex factors that result in sexual transmission.

Since reporting the first HIV-infected patient in China in 1985, the city of Beijing has reported a total of 40,840 cases as of October 31, 2023. Among all the infected individuals, 93.45 percent were transmitted through sexual contact, with 68.41 percent transmitted through male-to-male sexual contact and 25.04 percent through heterosexual contact. 3.32 percent were transmitted through drug injection, and 3.24 percent were transmitted through other routes, according to latest data from Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Addressing the event, Erasmus Morah, director of UNAIDS China Office, said World AIDS Day is to commemorate those who died because of AIDS and committed to achieving the end of AIDS by 2030. In the past 40 years, more than 40 million people have died of HIV around the world. Of this number, 400,000 were from China.

Morah spoke highly of China's efforts and achievement in fighting against HIV/AIDS. The HIV/AIDS prevention and control program in China has a high coverage rate, with over 90 percent of antiviral treatment coverage and treatment effective rate. The probability of HIV transmission from mother to child has been reduced to 3.3 percent, with fewer than 200 newborns infected with HIV each year, mainly in remote rural areas, Morah noted.

Although the world has not yet reached the track to end AIDS by 2030, China is firmly moving forward on this path. For example, China is expected to become the first developing country to eliminate HIV transmission from mother to child, Morah said. 

Wang Qi, a senior police official from Beijing Public Security Bureau, warned the transmission of HIV through drugs, either heroin, synthetic drugs or new psychoactive substances.

He said that heroin users primarily abuse the drug through injection. When injecting heroin, drug users often share needles, which can lead to the transmission of blood-borne diseases like AIDS among drug users. 

When taking synthetic drugs, drug users often gather in groups, both men and women, seeking so-called excitement or pleasure after taking drugs, Wang noted. 

Among the new psychoactive substances, the most widely covered and abused are synthetic cannabinoids, he said. The criminals would spray synthetic cannabinoids on the surface of plants or mix them in e-cigarette oil, which makes their behavior more deceptive and covert. After abusing these new psychoactive substances with stronger stimulating and hallucinogenic effects, drug uses further increase the risk of HIV transmission. 

Currently, China has controlled 188 types of new psychoactive substances, and on July 1 last year, China classified all synthetic cannabinoids as a controlled substance, Wang noted. 

Global Times