China says AIDS prevalent in parts of the country

China acknowledged on Tuesday the high prevalence of HIV/AIDS in certain parts of the country and among certain pockets of its population, and pledged to do all it can to control the disease.

"The high prevalence in certain areas and specific groups has alerted the Chinese government to the severity of the devastating impact of AIDS," Vice Minister of Health Wang Longde told a forum at the 15th International AIDS Conference in Bangkok.

"We are clearly aware that China must seize the opportunity and take effective measures to control the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS in China."

China is ranked alongside India and Russia as countries outside Africa that are most at risk from AIDS outside Africa.

The United Nations says it could have 10 million sufferers by 2010, but a Chinese official told Reuters at the Bangkok conference that such a dire scenario would be unlikely as the country had taken serious precautions.

Chinese officials say the country has 840,000 HIV/AIDS cases now, although activists and experts say a more accurate estimate would be between 1 and 1.5 million.

China blames the bulk of its HIV infections on intravenous drug use and botched blood-selling schemes in the 1990s, which in some cases have ravaged entire villages.

But its biggest headache as it tackles the epidemic is likely to be from unsafe sex.

Qi Xiaoqiu, director general of the Health Ministry's Department of Disease Control, told Reuters on Monday that the number of new HIV infections through sex was on the rise. Infections through sex now comprise 7 percent of all cases.

Experts say that in certain cities in the south, HIV prevalence is as high as 30 to 40 percent among vulnerable groups such as sex workers and intravenous drug users.

After ignoring the problem for years, China finally looked HIV/AIDS in the eye late last year when Premier Wen Jiabao shook hands with an AIDS patient.

Last week, the government began sending teams of counsellors to "hundreds of thousands" of villages across the country last week to spread the message of safe sex.

While Wang spoke at length about prevention and control measures already put in place, he conceded that the way ahead would not be easy.

"At present, China is still facing challenges and difficulties in its fight against AIDS such as the lack of resources, difficulties in implementing certain preventive measures due to traditions, ethnic and moral issues and discrimination against people living with AIDS," he said.