Beijing registered 679 new HIV/AIDS cases in 2005, a 35.26 percent increase from the previous year, an official with Beijing health authority said on Friday.

 

The growing number indicates that the fatal epidemic in the city is on the rise, said Jin Dapeng, director of Beijing Health Bureau, at an on-going conference on HIV/AIDS prevention and control.

 

The 679 cases, detected during a mass check-up on 960,000 people last year, included 130 Beijing citizens, 527 residents outside Beijing and 22 foreigners, according to Jin.

 

The official said the number of HIV carriers and AIDS patients in the Chinese capital had increased to 2,829 by the end of last year, including 556 Beijing citizens and 130 foreigners.

 

Beijing discovered its first HIV/AIDS case 20 years ago. Statistics show that drug users account for 36.7 percent of the cases and 34 percent were infected through sexual contact.

 

(Xinhua News Agency February 18, 2006)