China's anti-AIDS, HIV practices successful: experts

BEIJING - China's approach to fighting AIDS and HIV have proved successful, health officials and experts said Thursday on World AIDS Day.

According to official data, China had about 850,000 people with AIDS or HIV, about 0.06 percent of the Chinese population, at the end of 2015.

Wang Guoqiang, deputy chief of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, said China's AIDS and HIV prevention work has achieved significant results; it has stopped cases of the disease spreading through blood, effectively blocked transmission of the disease through drug injections, and stopped mother-to-child transmission.

From 2010 to 2015, persons tested for HIV and AIDS in China had increased from 60 million to 140 million.

Compared to 2010, the mortality rate in 2015 dropped by 57 percent while the discovery rate increased by over 68 percent.

Wu Zunyou, head of the AIDS and HIV prevention and control center of China Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC), said China's practice of expanding the scope of testing had discovered more HIV and AIDS infected persons.

"China's data and achievements proved its practices are successful, offering a reference for the United Nations Program on HIV and AIDS," Wu said.

In addition, China has taken effective measures to control HIV and AIDS spreading among drug users, and the UN Program on HIV and AIDS has popularized China's practices in other areas of the world, Wu said.

"China can continue to introduce its practices in anti-HIV and AIDS efforts to the rest of the world, especially in African states," said Lyu Fan, an official with China CDC.