Some 230 people have been found to be infected with HIV in Shenzhen from January to June, while experts say it is a crucial time in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

A total of 347 HIV/AIDS sufferers were detected in Shenzhen last year, 180 percent more than in 2003. AIDS experts called for high alert on the deadly virus at a work meeting Tuesday, warning that the number could reach 500 by the end of this year.

Professor Feng Tiejian with the municipal center for disease control and prevention (CDC) said drug addicts using needles were still the majority of HIV sufferers in Shenzhen, followed by those infected through sexual contact. Female HIV/AIDS carriers were on the rise, but the growth had not accelerated, Feng said.

An improved monitoring system also contributed to more findings of HIV/AIDS infections, experts said.

Pregnant women, patients undergoing operations and blood donors are required to have HIV tests. The city provides free blood tests for people who volunteer for examinations for HIV, free treatment for impoverished AIDS patients, free education for orphans of AIDS parents and free HIV examinations and treatment for pregnant women.

The city plans to tighten the quality control of the HIV screening laboratories and disqualify those failing to fulfill designated tasks.

Doctor Zhou Houqing with the city's No. 2 hospital said his hospital was receiving people volunteering for HIV examinations every day, and most of them were men in their 30s worrying about being infected with HIV through sex.

Zhou said people should be encouraged to go through HIV tests and urged more drug addicts using needles to have the tests.

(Shenzhen Daily July 28, 2005)