New Delhi, Nov 12 : An anti-AIDS expert in China has said that there is an urgent need for measures to tackle the problem because the incidences of the disease are increasing in the country.

Dai Zhicheng, director of the Chinese Association of STD (sexually transmitted disease) & AIDS Prevention and Control said that China reported 218,107 AIDS cases by the end of August this year, with an increase of 3,807 cases in August.

At a recent seminar to raise people's awareness of AIDS in Liaoning Province, he said that in central Henan and southwestern Yunnan provinces, the cases of AIDS have exceeded 30,000.

He also said that some western areas, including the Tibet Autonomous Region, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Qinghai Province, and northern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region reported less than 2,000 infection cases.

According to the monitoring data obtained by Dai's association, the rate of HIV infections among drug users rose from 1.95 percent in 1998 to 7.5 percent in 2006.

The rate of HIV infections among male homosexuals stayed between one  to four percent, Chinese news agency Xinhua reported.

Dai said that China's anti-AIDS efforts are hampered by many factors, including inadequate publicity and funding, inefficient health care facilities in rural areas and ineffective control on floating population.

The increasing number of floating population and drug users also pose difficulties for the campaign against AIDS. 

He has recommended compulsory urine test be adopted to keep drug addicts clean and anti-AIDS knowledge be made well-known among migrated population in the hope of curbing the virus spread. (ANI)