CRI听力：Shanghai AIDS

The Shanghai Municipal Health Bureau has revealed the city registered 582 new cases of HIV/AIDS in the first 11 months of this year, down 6.6 percent from a year earlier.

It also said that transmission through uNPRotected sexual intercourse has now exceeded intravenous drug use as the most common cause of infection with HIV/AIDS.

Our Shanghai Correspondent Zhou Jing has the details.

Reporter:

The Statistics Bureau reveals that as of November 20, a total of 2,582 people have been officially reported to have contracted HIV in Shanghai, including 291 AIDS patients. In the first 11 months of this year, 582 new HIV/AIDS cases were registered, down 6.6 percent from a year earlier.

Cai Wei, an official with the health bureau, further explained the latest reports on the epidemic.

"We've found in Shanghai, sex has become the biggest channel for contracting HIV, with 221 sexual transmissions among the new cases. Before, intravenous transfer ranked first. The change in Shanghai also coincides with nationwide trends."

AIDS prevention among the population of migrant workers has posed a new challenge.

"Migrant workers account for nearly 75 percent of new HIV/AIDS cases this year. Most of these people are from less-developed regions and lack information about the disease."

Disseminating knowledge targeted at this group of people is already an important part of Shanghai's AIDS prevention work.

Starting this year, volunteers from related departments have organized various educational activities at venues where migrant workers frequently gather, such as construction sites, markets and railway and long-distance bus stations.

According to a report released by China's Ministry of Health, homosexual HIV contraction is also on the rise, accounting for 12 percent of new HIV/AIDS carriers in China this year. Though the exact number in Shanghai is not yet known, director of the Shanghai Municipal Disease Prevention and Control Center, Zhang Shengnian, says the increasing trend is quite obvious.

"We've already started to work with many non-governmental organizations to get more detailed information about the epidemic among gay people. Prevention work will focus on peer education to encourage voluntary consulting and testing."

Though the spread of HIV/AIDS has slowed according to official figures, many challenges remain due to the reluctance of individuals to come forward for testing and treatment.

Zhou Jing, CRI News, Shanghai.