By September, 28,133 people in China were ⁴confirmed to have ⁵contracted the HIV virus, among whom 1,208 were AIDS patients and 641 had died.

　　But officials estimate that the actual number of people ⁶infected with HIV is much higher - at least 600,000 at the end of 2000.

　　Intravenous drug injection is the leading reason for the spread of AIDS in China, and is responsible for two thirds of HIV patients. The disease is also spreading widely among illegal blood donors.

　　Officials from UNAIDS, a joint UN program on HIV/AIDS, said China still has time to ⁷act if it wants to avert a widespread epidemic before the end of the decade.

　　Participants in China's first AIDS conference ⁸called for the education of those who work in sexual health areas, the installation of condom-dispensing machines and more open discussions in schools, saying such measures will reduce infection rates in the world's most populous nation.

　　Despite the growing number of AIDS sufferers, China has not developed any ⁹effective medicines itself. Foreign AIDS drugs can cost thousands of dollars a year, well beyond the ¹⁰means of most Chinese. Several countries are developing generic versions or close replicas of AIDS drugs that cost only a few hundred dollars a year.

　　Cao Yunzhen, deputy director of the National Center for AIDS Prevention and Control of the Ministry of Health, suggested the government should promote the adoption of the cocktail treatment - the combination of several drugs - across the country. The cocktail treatment is in widespread use all over the world, and it has proven effective at controlling the HIV virus. But it's too expensive for most Chinese families, at about 8,000 yuan per month per patient. "Efforts should be made to enable Chinese companies to manufacture their own AIDS drugs so that the price can be lowered," Cao said, adding that the government is ¹¹negotiating with foreign manufacturers on lowering the price of AIDS drugs. China has, so far, established six centers engaged in the treatment of AIDS, which are ¹²located in Beijing, Shanghai, Kunming, Guangzhou, Zhengzhou and Urumqi.

　　A leading American AIDS researcher ¹³cautioned that public awareness, accurate statistics and participation of the non-governmental sector are critical for HIV / AIDS prevention and control in China.

　　"China is at the beginning of its AIDS epidemic, and ¹⁴the problems the United States faced at the beginning are worth thinking about," said Phil Nieburg, associate director of Public Health Practice, the Global AIDS Program of the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.

　　Nieburg added: "It has become very clear during the past 20 years in the United States that HIV is not just the disease process; it is a social issue … We have learned that trying to take only a medical approach to HIV / AIDS is not likely to be successful."

　　He also encouraged the non-governmental sector to play a ¹⁵positive role in HIV / AIDS control. They "help advance programs that might be more difficult for the government, ¹⁶due to political and cultural sensitivity," said Nieburg.