Over 300 people are identified to have been infected with HIV in south China's island province of Hainan, according to an official with the provincial health department.
The number was 241 at the end of last year and the actual number of HIV carriers is estimated to have exceeded 2,000, said Bai Zhiqin, deputy director of the Hainan Provincial Health Bureau.
To battle with the killer disease the province has set up 14 laboratories for HIV testing and more are expected to be established in the future, Bai said.
Meanwhile, special work groups formed by experts from health, health education and health care departments have been organized to prevent the spread of HIV among high-risk groups such as drug addicts, sexual workers and those working in entertainment centers.
Zhou Baocheng, director of the Population and Family-planning Bureau of Hainan, said prevention of HIV and sexual diseases will be included in the province's family-planning network this year, and free condoms will be distributed among the migrant population in the province.
China has an estimated 840,000 people infected with HIV, including 80,000 with full-blown AIDS.
(Xinhua News Agency July 14, 2005)
