HIV poses increasing risk to Chinese women

Chinese women are more susceptible to contracting AIDS, with the latest research announced by UNAIDS, saying that by the end of 2009, women accounted for more than 30% of the estimated 740,000 cases of HIV in China, as compared to 15.3% in 1998.

The research says that approximately a third of newly infected women contracted the disease from their husbands, who were exposed to the virus either through contact with prostitutes or by engaging in homosexual activity.

 "Women became increasingly vulnerable over the period of research, with sexual transmission accounting for most cases of exposure to the disease," the China Daily quoted Guo Ruixiang, a China Program Officer for UNAIDS, as saying on the sidelines of a forum organized by the All-China Women's Federation in Beijing.

"China had 48,000 new cases of HIV infection in 2009, of which 74.7% contracted the virus through sexual contact, though it may also be transmitted through blood transfusions, the use of contaminated hypodermic needles and by mother to child transmission (MTCT) during pregnancy or breastfeeding," he added.

The percentage of women, who contracted HIV through sexual contact increased from 44.1% in 2001 to 55% in 2004.

As per the reports of the Ministry of Health, MTCT transmission accounts for one percent of total cases of infection in recent years, while China did not have any MTCT cases 15 years ago.