Activist: AIDS problem far exceeds estimates
1 December 2006
China's HIV/AIDS sufferers could number 10 times higher than official estimates, according to a leading AIDS activist, AFP reported. The country's health ministry said last week that there were 183,733 confirmed sufferers at the end of October, up 27.5% year-on-year, significantly lower than the estimate of 650,000 released jointly by the Chinese government and UN health agencies in January. However, activist Wan Yanhai believes the true number could be at least 6.5 million, based on research done by the awareness group he leads, the Beijing Aizhixing Institute. He also claimed that he was detained by police last Friday and prevented from running a five-day forum aimed at educating AIDS sufferers about their legal rights and how to lobby the government.
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