Hong Kong government figures, released on May 25, showing the number of new HIV infections in the city totaled 173 in the first quarter of 2015. The number is the second highest quarterly figure in over 30 years since the government has begun collecting data on HIV in 1984.

HIV is the virus that can develop into full-blown acquired immunity deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Although in recent years, the HIV virus has become more manageable through medication, AIDS still claims many lives annually all over the world.

Men make up most of the latest reported HIV infections, accounting for 145, or 84 percent, of the 173 cases in the first quarter of 2015, government figures indicate. Sexual contact remains the most common route of transmission, accounting for 73 percent of the total number of cases. About 56 percent became infected through homosexual or bisexual contact. Other causes include heterosexual sex, the sharing of infected syringes and transfusions of HIV-infected blood.

The situation is similar in the United States. The group most affected by HIV in the US remains gay or bisexual men. Male-to-male sex accounted for 63 percent of new HIV infections in 2010 (the latest numbers available), according to the Center for Disease Control of the US government (CDC).

In the US, however, the number of new HIV infections reported has decreased from approximately 130,000 annually to 50,000 a year since the height of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, according to the US government's CDC. (In comparison, the number of Hong Kong cases in the first quarter of 2015 is the second highest it has ever seen.)

Aids Concern, a non-governmental organization dedicated to eliminating AIDS in the city, discovered that unprotected sex was the main reason for HIV transmission. It found in a year-long study that 41 percent of gay men do not use condoms during sex. (It is hard to understand why people are risking their lives by such reckless behavior.)

It is worrying to see that the numbers of HIV cases in this city is increasing year after year. The figures totaled 139, 154 and 173 in the first quarter of 2013, 2014 and 2015, respectively. There is no sign of this declining.

Between 2005 and 2013, AIDS-related deaths globally have decreased by almost 40 percent across all age groups. However, deaths of children aged 10 to 19 have not decreased, according to UNICEF.

Indeed, it is sad and worrying to see more Hong Kong young people becoming HIV-positive. Government figures released this month reveal that eight males aged between 17 and 19 years old were infected with HIV in the first quarter, a terrible record for the 10-19 years old age group in a single quarter. (It is to be hoped that teenage males will have the courage to tell their sexual partners to practice safe sex or say no to them if they don't wear condoms.)

HIV and AIDS prevention campaigns in Hong Kong should be expanded to spread the message about safe sex. Both government health authorities and concern groups are encouraged to step up efforts to prevent the spread of HIV which can still develop into the potentially deadly AIDS stage of infection. Hong Kong citizens are persuaded to generously support those concern groups. It is indeed worrying that teenagers are falling victim to the disease. But now the official statistics are indisputable. Sadly we have to accept the reality.

Prevention is always better than cure.

(HK Edition 06/01/2015 page1)