Migrant workers vulnerable to HIV/AIDS

The Ministry of Health says HIV/AIDS is spreading at a lower rate in general, but is becoming pervasive in high-risk groups and regions.

Whilethediseaseisspreadingataslowerrate
amongChina'sgeneralpopulation,thecountry's
200millionmigrantworkersarebecoming
increasinglyvulnerable.

Nearly45,000 people were found living with HIV/AIDS in China in the first nine months of this year. This brings the total number of people known to have HIV to about two hundred sixty four thousand.

While the disease is spreading at a slower rate among China's general population, the country's200 million migrant workers are becoming increasingly vulnerable.

Sun Xinhua, official of Nat'l Committee of HIV Prevention, said, "The mobile migrant workers are away from home. They are sexually active, but don't have enough knowledge to take preventative measures. We set them as our target group to prevent the virus from shifting from so-called high risk groups to the general public. And these efforts should be nationwide."