Hong Kong and China's Guangdong province will increase joint HIV surveillance and prevention ef... Hong Kong, Guangdong Provin

Submitted by admin on Tue, 2007-03-27 08:00. ::

According to China Daily, the Hong Kong Department of Health reported 373 new HIV cases last year, an increase of 19% from 313 cases reported in 2005. Guangdong reported 4,823 new HIV cases from January 2006 to October 2006, an increase of 8.4% from the same period in 2005, China Daily reports.

According to Yu Dewen, spokesperson for the Guangdong health authority, because many new HIV cases are transmitted sexually, the two health departments will "launch a series of education campaigns to increase public awareness" about HIV/AIDS.

Lo Wing-lok, a microbiologist from Hong Kong, said that both governments should increase their HIV education campaigns. "The public must be made aware that AIDS is a serious disease that can leave them unable to work and puts a heavy burden on their families," Lo said, adding, "They should also know that the medicines used to treat the disease have side effects."

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