3 people have died in Tibet from AIDS and the number of reported HIV carriers and people with full-blown AIDS has risen to 41 compared to 30 cases last year.
Three people in the remote region have died of AIDS, the Deputy Director of the Institute for Prevention and Control of AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD) with Tibet Autonomous Regional Centre of Disease Control and Prevention, Yuzhan Lhaco said.
Two state-level outposts are monitoring the spread of the killer disease and the Tibet government has set up a HIV/AIDS prevention and control centre along with counselling and testing services.
“Testing is free of charge and HIV carriers are treated with free medicines,” the official said, adding that the vast region and sparse population makes it difficult to monitor the spread of HIV/AIDS.
HIV/AIDS infections have been found in urban and rural areas and more men than women have been infected, said Yuzhan.
Official statistics show that among the 650,000 Chinese living with HIV/AIDS, 44.3 percent were infected through drug injection, 10.7 percent through blood transfusions and 43.6 percent through unsafe sex.