A volunteer lights candles forming the shape of a red ribbon during an awareness event organized on the eve of the World AIDS Day in Kathmandu on Nov 30, 2021. (PHOTO / AFP)
HONG KONG – Total 93 cases of HIV infection were reported to the Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health in the second quarter of this year, the CHP announced on Tuesday.
Of the new cases, 72 were detected in males and 21 in females, bringing the total number of reported HIV infections to 11,830 since 1984, according to a CHP statement.
There were 24 new cases of AIDS reported in the quarter, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 2,441 since 1985
Thirty-nine people acquired the virus through homosexual or bisexual contact, and 31 via heterosexual contact, it added.
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Three people contracted it via injecting drugs, while the routes of transmission for the remaining 20 cases have yet to be determined.
“Sexual transmission remained the major mode of HIV transmission,” a CHP spokesman said, urging the public to use condoms consistently and properly to reduce the risk of acquiring HIV, which causes AIDS.
There were 24 new cases of AIDS reported in the quarter, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 2,441 since 1985.
The center urged members of the public with a history of unsafe sex to take an HIV antibody test as early as possible, adding that key demographics with higher risk of infection should undergo regular HIV screening.
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Stressing the need of early HIV treatment with antiretroviral drugs for effective prevention of progression to AIDS and other complications, the spokesman said: “Lifelong antiretroviral treatment is indicated for all people with HIV, and the treatment remarkably improves their health and possibility of survival.”
Infected people who achieve sustained viral suppression to an undetectable level with treatment will not transmit the virus through sex, the statement added.
