AIDS on the rise in Beijing

China's capital Beijing has reported a 50 per cent increase in cases of HIV/AIDS this year, according to new figures.

Authorities revealed that there had been 973 cases of the disease in the metropolis, which will host the Olympic Games next year, so far in 2007, Reuters reported, citing needle sharing and unprotected sex as the main causes of transmission.

The head of the city's health service also highlighted the new challenges offered up by countering the spread of HIV/AIDS among migrant workers moving to Beijing from rural areas.

"Incidents of the disease are still on the rise in Beijing and it is spreading from the high-risk groups of people to the general population," Jin Dapeng, head of the Municipal Beijing Health Bureau, told the Xinhua news agency.

"Beijing has yet to work out a specific policy on AIDS prevention among migrants. It will be a priority in our future work," he added.

In the wake of the figures, Beijing local authorities announced plans to order all hotels on the city to place condoms in their rooms by the end of 2008.

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