Over 600,000 Chinese with HIV/AIDS receive antiretroviral treatment

GUANGZHOU, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- More than 600,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in China have received free antiretroviral treatment since the country launched a program in 2003, an expert has said.

"Nine out of ten people undergo HIV viral load test each year. The results show that 90 percent of infected people had their virus suppressed after receiving treatment," said Zhang Fujie, a clinical disease expert at Beijing Ditan Hospital, at the 2017 National Conference on HIV/AIDS.

Zhang said that the mortality rate of children infected with HIV had greatly decreased after antiretroviral treatment.

China officially had nearly 420,000 people infected with HIV and 300,000 AIDS patients at the end of June.

The country has made efforts to limit the prevalence of HIV/AIDS. Last year alone, the central government spent 4.6 billion yuan (694 million U.S. dollars) on HIV/AIDS control and treatment.

There are around 10,000 doctors and nurses across 4,000 clinics specialized in antiretroviral treatment in China.

The three-day conference will end Thursday in Guangzhou, southern China's Guangdong Province.