Beijing health authorities have recorded 633 new HIV cases so
far this year, bringing the capital's total to 3,462.
The 633 cases included 130 local residents, 491 migrant workers
and 12 foreigners, Jin Dapeng, director of Beijing Municipal Health
Bureau, said on Monday.
High-risk groups, including sex workers and drug addicts, are
still the major source of the HIV carriers, said the official.
Bureau figures show 39.2 percent of the drug addicts in Beijing
are infected with the disease and 26.7 percent of sex workers are
HIV positive.
Jin said Beijing has set up six specialized clinics providing
HIV carriers with medicines, primarily methadone, and treatment in
its six districts.
Needle exchange centers were established in most of Beijing's
urban districts and most hotels in the city provided free condoms,
Jin added.
As of October, about 185,000 migrant workers from 386 large
construction sites in Beijing and 51,000 people working in the
city's entertainment places had received AIDS prevention education, he said.
Beijing saw 679 more HIV cases in 2005, up 35.26 percent than
2004.
According to Ministry of Health, China had an estimated 650,000
HIV carriers, including 75,000 AIDS patients, by the end of last
year.
(Xinhua News Agency November 21, 2006)