December 1 is World AIDS Day. Statistics released by the Taiwan health department show that by November 15 HIV-infected persons on the island have reached 6,974 with 1,234 new infected persons added this year. In other words a new HIV-infected person is found every 6.2 hours in China's Taiwan. An HIV-infected comes down with the disease every 36 hours. And an AIDS patient dies every 108 hours.

An official with the "Center for Disease Control" said HIV infection cases on the island for the first time exceeded one thousand this year and estimated growth rate would surpass 50 percent. He said female infections reached 82 this year and are predicted to exceed a hundred by the year end. The infection rate has set up a new record. Most of the infected females contacted the virus from their husbands or boyfriends. Therefore health departments on the island urged men to use condoms while women were advised to refuse a male partner who fails to wear a condom.

The official also said starting from next year health departments on the island would conduct HIV screening on pregnant women in order to reduce the rate of mother-to-child infection.

By People's Daily Online