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"AIDS to cost China RM150b"
The
Star (www.thestar.com.my)
(08/06/06)
BEIJING: AIDS is likely to cause nearly US$40bil (RM146bil) in losses for
China's economy over the next five years, mostly because of lost labour as
patients die or fall sick, state media warned yesterday.
The economic loss to the total national pool of workers is expected to reach
285.6 billion yuan (RM130.3bil) between 2006 and 2010, the Xinhua news
agency reported, citing a senior health ministry official.
An estimated 650,000 people were infected with HIV in China at the end of
last year, according to a study carried out by the health ministry, the
World Health Organisation and UNAIDS released in January.
About 25,000 people died from AIDS last year, 10,000 of whom were poor
farmers who sold blood in unsafe government-approved schemes in the 1990s. —
AFP
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