China Awakens to Fight Projected AIDS Crisis [Normile D. Science 2000; 288: 2312]: This review of the potential explosion of HIV in China is from the "News Focus" section of Science. The country now has 18,143 reported cases of HIV infection, but the true number is estimated to be greater than 500,000 according to the National Center for AIDS Prevention and Control for China. The reported number represents a fivefold increase since 1996, which is ascribed to increases in injection drug use, increases in multiple sex partners, and increased activity in the commercial sex industry. Of the 18,143 reported cases, 72% are attributed to injection drug use, 6.7% to sexual transmission, 0.1% to maternal-infant transmission, 0.5% to blood transfusions, and 20% "unknown." It is projected that if current trends continue, the result could be 10 million HIV-infected persons in China by the year 2010. The author lamented the low government spending in AIDS, which is only $1.75 million for this year. On the positive side, there is a reasonably good public health infrastructure, and at least three large vaccine trials are based in China. posted 7/19/2000