Dec. 1, 2015 is the 28th World AIDS Day. There are a total of 13,106 people who are infected with HIV in Beijing, and the growth rate of the number of people infected with HIV is slowing down this year.

According to Beijing Health and Family Planning Commission, by the end of Oct. 31, 2015, there are a total of 18,399 HIV-infected cases in Beijing since the first case was reported in 1985. Among which, 16,152 people got HIV infection from sexual transmission, taking 87.8 percent of the total (11,692 of the cases are same-sex sexual transmission, and 4,460 are heterosexual transmission); 1,192 got infection through intravenous drug abuse, accounting for 6.5 percent of the total.

Although the number of people suffering from AIDS has been increasing, the growth rate of infection is slowing down in 2015. Sexual transmission is till the main way of transmission of HIV virus. In addition, infection in homosexual men is much higher than other groups.

Moreover, the number of senior and young students who got HIV-infected has increased, especially seniors above 60 and teenagers from 18 to 22. 87 universities and colleges in Beijing have set up “red ribbon” associations to help popularize knowledge of AIDS prevention among the students of this age range.