Chinese students in 82 percent of the newly reported HIV/AIDS cases involving students in 2017 had the virus through same-sex activities, continuing to increase since 2012, according to a senior health official on Wednesday.
The number of new HIV cases in those between 15 and 24 years old in China increased from 12,819 in 2012 to 19,384 in 2017, Han Mengjie, a senior official of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said on Wednesday at a satellite forum of the 5th National Conference on HIV/AIDS in Kunming, Southwest China's Yunnan Province.
Han said most newly reported cases involved male college students aged between 18 and 22.
Chinese universities introduced HIV/AIDS prevention education in 2015, and a pilot project on HIV/AIDS prevention was adopted in 94 universities in 2016. Some universities also introduced anonymous urine tests for students.
However, some health experts said that the HIV/AIDS prevention education should include junior high-school students.
A recent CDC survey on the risk of contracting HIV/AIDS among young males who engaged in same-sex activity found that adolescent males started their first sexual experience younger than 12 years old, according to Liu Hui, a research fellow and senior official with the CDC.
The survey of 1,058 male students from 15 to 19 years old who engaged in same sex in North China's Beijing and Tianjin and South China's Guangzhou also found that they used various kinds of medicine and illicit drugs.
Liu said HIV/AIDS and drug abuse prevention education should be conducted in junior high school.
China is also considering including students' volunteer service on HIV/AIDS prevention to the school credit system, and plans to encourage students to participate in various campus activities, such as competitions and making films to raise awareness, according to Han.
