China admits its AIDS crisis

With unprecedented frankness China's top health officials have acknowledged that the world's most populous country faces an HIV and AIDS crisis, and they have vowed to bring new resources to bear in their campaign to limit the spread of the virus. China's vice minister of health, Yin Dakui, presented alarming data at a Beijing press conference last month indicating that rates of HIV infection are far higher than previously reported, and also that increased percentages of specific groups, such as drug misusers, are now testing positive. “Like many other countries, we are facing a very serious epidemic of HIV and AIDS,” Mr Yin said as he announced that …