BEIJING, Nov. 23 (Xinhuanet) -- The number of HIV/AIDS cases in northwest China's Shaanxi Province has seen a sharp increase, putting officials and experts in the inland province on high alert, Beijing-based newspaper China Daily reported.

    Sixty-nine HIV positives were reported between January and September, one and half times the number reported last year. Senior provincial officials warned the province is seriously threatened by the disease.

    "Shaanxi has witnessed AIDS case reports in all of its 10 prefectures, showing a severe situation in AIDS prevention and control," Fan Bing, deputy director of the Shaanxi Provincial Health Bureau was quoted as saying.

    Statistics from local departments showed that Shaanxi has a total of 263 people with the HIV virus, of whom 97 patients have full-blown AIDS while 45 had died of the disease by the end of September 2004.

    Among the 263 HIV-positive cases, 145 are local residents whilethe rest are part of the floating population. The infected people live mainly in the provincial capital of Xi'an and Shangluo in southern Shaanxi, statistics show.

    "Though AIDS cases in the whole province are at a relatively low level at present, there are signs of growth," the deputy public health director said.

    Since the first AIDS patient was reported in 1992, a total of 40 HIV-positive cases have been found in Xi'an. Among them, 12 developed AIDS and six have died, Fan said.

    At present, there are about 840,000 HIV-positives in China. Some 240,000 people have died of the disease, bringing the total number of HIV positives to about 1 million.

    Fan said the local government has paid a lot of attention to the severe situation and takes measures to further enhance prevention efforts by spreading knowledge of AIDS to the public and keep a close eye on the high-risk population.

    Faced with growing AIDS threat, experts plan to develop regulations on AIDS prevention and control as soon as possible.

    "There is no special law on AIDS prevention and control in China at present, and relevant laws and regulations not only lag behind, but are also not perfect, failing to meet prevention and control needs," Chen Youmo, a local prevention and control expert was quoted.

    Meanwhile, AIDS in the country is at a key stage, threatening to spread from high-risk groups to the general population, said Chen. Enditem