China facing Aids crisis: UN

The United Nations says China is on the brink of an HIV/Aids catastrophe.

By the end of last year, 800,000 to 1.5 million Chinese were infected with HIV, the virus that can cause Aids, the United Nations Programme on Aids/HIV said in a report.

The national infection rate was still far lower than sub-Saharan Africa, but prevalence in certain areas had reached explosive levels, and China could have 10 million HIV sufferers by 2010 if no effective countermeasures were taken.