New HIV Infections hit 32-Year Record High
Local | Mary Ann Benitez and Kinling Lo 02-24
The government HIV/AIDS program is not effectively controlling the spread of the virus, the expert in charge of the program admits, following a record 725 newly diagnosed sufferers last year.
The number of new cases was 11 percent up on the 651 recorded in 2014, which was then a record.
The 2015 figure is the highest since the government HIV/AIDS surveillance program began in 1984, with a rising trend seen for five years in a row.
CHP consultant (Special Preventive Programme) Wong Ka-hing, who has been announcing surveillance figures for the Department of Health since 2007, said this could not be explained purely by more people coming forward for testing.
“We are seeing new infections. That means we are not controlling the infection to the extent that we had hoped for,” Wong said.
The average age of male patients is also getting younger.
Of the new HIV cases last year, 60 percent involved homosexual or bisexual contact, at 434, compared to 18 percent (135 cases) infected through heterosexual contact.
Fourteen became infected through injecting drugs and two newborns from their infected mothers.
St John’s Cathedral HIV Education Centre manager Elijah Fung said the trend is worrying and means “more people are more relaxed about their sexual activity.”
Fung said: “With the political situation in Hong Kong and the Zika virus, people may feel their life is more threatened by those issues than by HIV.”
She urged the department to find the root causes of rising HIV infection so education and promotion efforts may be strengthened where they matter.
Fung said the AIDS Trust Fund should review its direction as it funds projects that are short-term.
“Getting funding from the AIDS Trust Fund is not easy for long-term programs. If the program just lasts one or two years, it is very difficult to see the impact and influence on the health of the community and people become relaxed and complacent.”
AIDS Concern also announced that it identified 68 HIV cases out the 5,251 tested at its center last year the highest since the testing service began in 2000. Ninety-two percent of those who came for testing were Hong Kong Chinese.
Program director Mandy Cheung Hiu-wah said a possible reason could be social media encourages people to meet partners easily and have casual sex.
AIDS Concern will have a testing week from tomorrow until March 2 at its center in Jordan.