China HIV/AIDS cases surge by 14 pc

AFP  |  Beijing 

The number of people living with has surged by 14 per cent, with most cases transmitted through sex rather than blood transfusions, said Saturday.

More than 40,000 new cases were reported in the second quarter alone, with 93.1 percent having contracted the virus through sex.

The number of infections caused by has "essentially been reduced to zero", according to Xinhua.

has been hit by scandals in the past.

In the 1990s, rural parts of -- particularly the central province of -- endured the country's most debilitating AIDS epidemic.

It stemmed from a tainted government-backed blood donation programme and infected tens of thousands of people, including entire villages.

In 2015, reported the case of a five-year-old girl who had contracted through a during an operation for

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First Published: Sat, September 29 2018. 20:00 IST