Minister of Health Zhang Wenkang said at a national AIDS conference Tuesday that the number of infected people, while still low compared with many other countries, is nevertheless increasing rapidly.

The number of infections reported in the first half of the year is 67.4 per cent higher than compared with the same period last year.

By the end of September, 28,133 people in China were confirmed to have contracted the HIV virus. Of those, 1,208 were AIDS patients and 641 had already died.

But officials estimate that the actual number of HIV infections is substantially higher: at least 600,000.

"The current HIV/AIDS situation in China is pressing,'' Zhang said at the opening of the First China AIDS/STD (sexually transmitted diseases) conference, which drew 2,000 participants nationwide.

He said the virus is beginning to spread among all citizens, not just high-risk populations like drug users and homosexuals.

The four-day conference is "an historic event'' in China's response to HIV/AIDS, said Peter Piot, executive director of the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS. "Over the next two decades, what happen in China will determine the global burden of HIV/AIDS.''

Zhang said that the Chinese Government will invest more money on efforts to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS over the next five year, including keeping donated blood contamination-free and teaching the public how to stay safe.

Early diagnosis and treatment of the disease also will be improved, he said.

Piot said China is already making headway in controlling the problem.

"There is a greater willingness to discuss HIV/AIDS more openly than there was two years ago,'' he said. "Many good projects are going on in many communities.''

He spoke highly of China's use of celebrities as spokesman for AIDS prevention.

Pu Cunxin, a well-known film star in China, was named the country's AIDS Prevention spokesman last year and has maintained a high-profile role in the fight against AIDS.

At Tuesday's opening ceremony, three more actors and singers were named as spokespersons: Guo Feng, Gu Juji and Zu Hai.

Associating someone so famous with something still considered shameful helps raise the public's awareness, Piot said.

Dai Zhicheng, secretary-general of the conference, said educating people about the disease is the best way to stop it from spreading.

"Since there is no way to eradicate the HIV virus at present, everyone in cities and villages should receive health education,'' he said.

Dai urged people to "pay attention to AIDS and take action'' and said he hoped the conference will enhance public participation in fighting HIV/AIDS.

The conference will be held every two years, he said.

(China Daily November 14, 2001)