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URUMQI, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- The number of people having received AIDS/HIV treatment has increased almost seven times in the past six years in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, officials said Tuesday.
More than 20,000 people living with AIDS/HIV had received treatment in Xinjiang as of September this year, according to the region's HIV/AIDS prevention authority.
Xinjiang has 39,840 people living with HIV/AIDS, and the number of designated hospitals for antiretroviral treatment in the region rose from 48 in 2010 to 92 in 2016. HIV/AIDS testing, some antiretroviral treatment and medicines are free for patients in these hospitals.
The central and the regional governments have spent more than 260 million yuan (38 million U.S. dollars) on medicines and subsidies for people living with HIV/AIDS in the region, according to Zhang Feng, deputy director of the regional AIDS prevention office.
In a national health plan published earlier this year, China vowed to provide more free medicine to help treat AIDS and improve its AIDS testing facilities.
Across the country, the number of people living with HIV/AIDS was 575,000 by the end of October 2015.
