241 Villagers Found HIV-Positive in Wenlou of HenanA total of 241 people have been found HIV positive in Wenlou Villages in Shangcai County, central China's Henan Province, according to a press release from the Ministry of Health on August 23.In the early 1990s, profiteers illegally set up some blood collection stations in the province, they surreptitiously bought blood among villagers in Wenlou and sold it to some blood products profit-seeking companies for plasma, of whom many had since got infected with HIV because of the blood collection. Related information from the Ministry of Health shows that since 1995 Henan provincial authoritative health department had conducted 7 investigations on AIDS, according to which, Wenlou is most serious that has got infected with HIV. Formed of six natural villages, Wenlou has a population of 3170, of which about 1310 people had sold blood in 1995 and a 43.48 percent of these were found HIV positive in November 1999. In April 2001, 318 people turned HIV positive, or 19.33 percent out of a population of 1645. Before 1995, out of 568 blood donators, 244 were found HIV positive, or 42.96 percent. According to a survey taken, 214 people are found HIV positive and 38 become AIDS carriers among the whole community of Wenlou Villages. So far, the disease has taken a death toll of 31 since 1995 and 5 people have died since 2001. By PD Online staff member Li Yan |
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