Low awareness caused by inadequate publicity and inefficient monitoring and testing systems have retarded control and prevention of the disease in China, said Dai Zhicheng, president of the Chinese Association of STD & AIDS Prevention and Control, on Friday.

"Some local officials believe that too much publicity of the disease will negatively impair investment and local economy, while others underestimate the disease and neglect control and prevention," said Dai.

As a result, the number of reported cases is far less than the actual number, said Dai.

By the end of last year, localities in China had reported 144,089 people infected with HIV. This represents just 22.2 percent of the officially estimated figure of 650,000 people living with HIV.

Although China has for a number of years promoted an AIDS awareness program, many people still know very little about the disease. A poll conducted by the State Health Ministry asked 1919 college students from 24 universities in 19 cities about their level of AIDS awareness. Almost 24 percent of the students don't know how AIDS was spread and 24.4 percent don't know how to prevent the spread of AIDS.

Discrimination against people with HIV is still serious, noted Dai, adding that people have an irrational fear of the disease.

Dai was speaking in Nanning, capital city of South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, where the HIV/AIDS control and prevention promotion team were visiting to help raise AIDS awareness.

The team, organized by the Working Committee for HIV/AIDS Prevention and Treatment, under the State Council, will visit another eight provinces and autonomous regions including Henan, Xinjiang, Guangdong.

Dai hopes that by giving lectures, they will help local officials better understand that AIDS prevention requires long-term efforts.