HIV claims 22 lives in China and 10,000 may be infected.

As many as 10,000 Chinese may be infected with HIV, and 22 have died of the disease since China discovered its first case in 1985, an official report said. By the end of July 1994, 1453 people in China had tested positive for HIV. Of those, 1174 were Chinese citizens, 31 were overseas Chinese and 230 were foreigners. But Wang Youfa, of the China Xiehe Medical College, wrote in the Guangming Daily that HIV tests in China have so far been administered only among high-risk groups. "The actual infection rate is far higher. Chinese experts estimate that the (Chinese) mainland currently has 5000 to 10,000 HIV carriers," Wang said. He urged better control of disease, but proposed no specific measures. Most Chinese still have little knowledge of the disease and how it is spread. Some believe that they can catch it through dirty bed sheets or from underwear laundered by hotels or laundromats. The Chinese government long has characterized AIDS as a disease that strikes only foreigners or fringe groups such as drug users and homosexuals. Prevention measures were directed at foreigners coming to China and at Chinese with frequent contacts with foreigners. Chinese health officials were shocked in 1990 when they discovered 146 HIV-positive drug users in southwest China's Yunnan province. Since then, the figure has ballooned to 1133 cases, or 79% of the national total, Wang said. The province borders Burma, which produces much of the world's heroin, and has China's most serious drug problem. The report said the infection rate among Yunnan's intravenous drug users was as high as 78%. Drug users account for 66% of the HIV carriers. The virus has spread to 22 of China's 39 provinces, Wang said. Of the 40 Chinese citizens who have developed advanced AIDS, 22 have already died, he said. Non-Chinese citizens with HIV are deported from China.
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