Hong Kong government cuts cash for HIV prevention, just as infections set to surge
Groups running testing and outreach services say they have had to cut back operations or start charging users, raising the prospect of even more city residents affected
Large cuts to cash the government gives to groups battling HIV and Aids in Hong Kong have pulled the plug on testing and awareness-raising services for high-risk groups, despite a predicted surge in local infections.
Several local HIV and Aids groups have said the Department of Health cut their funding or cut their funding period from three years to one year, for prevention projects targeting both heterosexual and homosexual men.
The cuts have hit as the number of Hongkongers living with HIV is expected to surge by 35 per cent in the coming four years, according to the government’s Advisory Council on Aids. According to the Department of Health, there were just under 9,000 people infected in the city by September this year.
The city’s annual count of new HIV and Aids infections has more than doubled in the past decade, from 313 new cases in 2005 to a peak of 725 in 2015. In the first three months of this year there were 202 new infections recorded, the highest quarterly count since records began in 1984.
Unprotected sex remains the main mode of transmission for HIV in Hong Kong, accounting for almost 80 per cent of infections. The virus can lead to Aids, a potentially life-threatening deficiency in the immune system.
Andrew Chidgey, head of Aids Concern, a major NGO for prevention of the disease, said the funding cuts had forced his group to cut staff and suspend HIV rapid tests, which give results in 20 minutes, as well as outreach services for heterosexual men since June.
