United Nations warns China of need to tackle HIV risks for women

China could follow the dangerous path of several African countries where more women than men fall prey to the Aids epidemic if the country fails to enact powerful measures to tackle the problem, particularly among vulnerable groups, women's rights advocates warn.

HIV/Aids spreads rapidly among at-risk women on the mainland, says Guo Ruixiang, a programme co-ordinator for UN Women, the United Nations body for gender equality and women's empowerment.

But while China's most susceptible women have been overlooked, the nation has taken steps to prevent HIV at birth.

The number of reported cases of HIV/Aids on the mainland jumped by 93 per cent in four years - from 48,161 in 2007 to 92,940 in 2011, according to a report by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/Aids.

Many women's advocates were stunned by the numbers involving women. Estimates of females with the virus shot up 12 per cent - from 200,900 in 2007 to 225,700 in 2009.

The findings were included in UN reports, offering researchers valuable statistics for an overdue insight into the spread of HIV/Aids on the mainland. The government did not make any figures available before 2005.

Now that the disease has become a public health issue in China, it requires greater collaboration between government agencies and non-government organisations, Guo says.