Beijing, Sep 5 (Xinhua) The incidence of HIV or full-blown AIDS is increasing faster among the gay population of the Chinese capital than among the sex workers, the city’s disease control centre said Friday.

Up to five percent of homosexuals in the city are infected, compared with 0.5 percent of women sex workers, said He Xiong, deputy director of the Beijing Center of Disease Control and Prevention.

He attributed the high prevalence of HIV/AIDS among gays to poor knowledge of the need for protection during sex.

‘Despite increasing tolerance to homosexuals in recent years, discrimination against them still exists and gays usually keep their sex life secret, making it difficult to improve awareness of the disease among them,’ He said.

Of one million blood samples examined between January and July, authorities found 563 people infected. Among them, 118 were permanent residents of the city, the official said.

The percentage of transmission from mother to baby, from blood products and needle sharing among drug addicts had dropped, he said.

While the prevalence of AIDS in China remains low compared with the total population, the situation is very serious in several provinces affected by drug trafficking and illegal blood donation.

China had registered about 214,000 HIV cases by July 30 last year, but many HIV-positive people were still not registered, officials said.

According to the last major survey in 2005 jointly by the health ministry, UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and World Health Organization (WHO), the number of HIV infected people in China was estimated at 650,000.

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