China makes HIV/AIDS prevention first lesson in Beijing colleges

BEIJING: Chinese capital Beijing has incorporated HIV and AIDS prevention as the first lesson given to university students in a bid to raise awareness among them as surveys pointed to its spread in colleges and universities.

For students admitted to seven universities in Beijing this year, the first lesson they were given was on HIV/AIDS.

About 11,000 students from seven universities participated in nine sessions on HIV/AIDS prevention last month, said the Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning.

Incorporating HIV/AIDS prevention into college orientation programme comes in response to the increasing rate of HIV/AIDS infection in Beijing, particularly among young people.

Sexual intercourse remains the major source of transmission, accounting for 95 per cent of all cases.

For many, diagnosis comes very late in the disease's development.

Authorities say the prevention sessions are being trialled but will likely be rolled out in all colleges in the capital.

An official survey last year said, nearly 2,200 cases of HIV involving students aged 15 and above had been reported nationwide, compared with previous year's 1,772, the National Centre for AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Disease Control and Prevention said.

China last year reported 104,000 new HIV/AIDS infections, up 14.8 per cent from the year before, according to central health authorities.

Wang Guoqiang, vice head of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, said the overall rate of infection and number of HIV/AIDS cases have stayed at a low level.

China has provided anti-viral treatment for an additional 85,000 HIV/AIDS patients last year, an increase of 21.2 per cent compared with 2013, Wang said early this year.