An average of 192 people became new HIV carriers in China each day last year, but only eight percent of them registered with health authorities, according to sources at the inauguration ceremony of the China Health Alliance.

"Only 25 percent of HIV carriers have been tested for HIV and only eight percent are registered with local medical departments," said the sources.

To fight a disease effectively, health authorities need not only effective treatments but also reliable data and good reporting mechanisms.

Only 160,000 HIV carriers and patients have been tested for HIV in China, and only 50,000 are documented in medical institutions that contact the patients and urge them to receive treatment, said Wu Zunyou, director of the AIDS/STD Control and Prevention Center under the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The China Health Alliance, initiated by the World Economic Forum on Monday, is a coalition between government, enterprises and NGOs to fight the growing challenge from HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis by offering education, testing and treatment to people infected.

By the end of 2005, China had recorded more than 140,000 cases of HIV infection. Officials estimate that there are approximately 650,000 people living with HIV in China, including approximately 75,000 AIDS patients.

Total HIV infections worldwide had exceeded 40 million and more than 30 million AIDS patients had died by the end of 2005, according to figures released by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

(Xinhua News Agency September 12, 2006)