General infection rates are low, but the region suffers from serious localised epidemics. With huge numbers of people migrating to cities, drug abuse and sexually-transmitted diseases are on the rise. There are estimated to be 1 million people living with HIV in China. Within a decade and without effective measures, this figure could rise to 10 million - a number equivalent to the entire population of Belgium.

People with HIV:	1.2m
New HIV cases in 2002:	270,000
Deaths from Aids in 2002:	45,000
Children (under 15) with Aids by end of 2002:	4,000
Source: UNAIDS, 2002

Aids deaths in 2001
China:	30,000
Papua New Guinea:	880
Japan:	430
South Korea:	220
Source: UNAIDS, 2002

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