Action to be taken as HIV cases among students rise

Health authorities nationwide were told on Monday to improve coordination with their education counterparts and tell schools regularly of HIV infection among their students to better fight increasing cases of the disease.

Education authorities should be told by health authorities of any HIV infection among students at schools within their jurisdiction at least every six months, the nation's top health body said.

This will enable better cooperation in taking measures to combat the disease, according to a circular issued by the National Health and Family Planning Commission and the Ministry of Education.

By the end of October last year, nearly 2,200 cases of HIV involving students age 15 and above had been reported nationwide, compared with 1,772 the previous year, according to the National Center for AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Disease Control and Prevention.

On Monday, the commission said that in recent years HIV infection among students in China had increased rapidly.

It called for a system to be set up to provide regular notification to schools and for frequent exchanges between health and education authorities.

It also called for colleges and middle schools to see that students receive sufficient instruction in HIV/AIDS prevention and control, and for schools to guide concerned students to have tests, while ensuring their privacy.

Wu Zunyou, head of the National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention, said although the number of newly reported HIV cases among students last year accounted for less than 3 percent of the total reported in China, infection among college students is rising much faster than in other groups.

"The number of HIV/AIDS cases among male college students has increased much faster than those among female students since 2008," he said. "About 80 percent of newly detected cases involve sex between men."

wangxiaodong@chinadaily.com.cn