On December 1, 2025, the 38th World AIDS Day arrived as scheduled. This global health issue with the theme of “Uniting social forces to jointly combat HIV” has once again drawn public attention to this “century plague” that has lasted for more than four decades. By the end of 2024, there were approximately 38.4 million people living with the Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV) worldwide, with 1.5 million new infections and 630,000 related deaths each year. Behind these figures lies a prolonged battle between humanity and the virus, as well as a joint answer sheet of the scientific prevention and control system and the progress of social awareness. This article will analyze the global practices and China’s experience in AIDS prevention and control from three dimensions: the current epidemic situation, prevention and control strategies, and monitoring systems.
I. The Global and Chinese Pandemic Landscape: Challenges and Turning Points Behind the Data
(1) Global epidemic situation: From explosive growth to controllable spread
Since the first AIDS case was reported in the United States in 1981, HIV has evolved from a local epidemic to a global public health crisis. Data from the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) shows that the global annual number of new infections reached as high as 3 million around 2000. After more than two decades of prevention and control measures, this figure has dropped by 50%. However, regional differences are significant: sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 67% of global infections and remains the “hardest-hit area”. In Eastern Europe and Central Asia, the incidence rate has risen by 22% over the past five years due to drug injection transmission.
(2) China’s Prevention and Control Achievements: From High-Risk Groups to universal Protection
According to data from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, by the end of 2024, there were 1.155 million living HIV-infected individuals in China, with a cumulative total of 363,000 deaths reported. It is worth noting that through the “Four Exemptions and One Care” policy (free antiviral treatment, voluntary counseling and testing, mother-to-child transmission drugs, free education for orphans, and care and assistance for families of infected individuals), the mother-to-child transmission rate of AIDS in China has dropped from 34.8% in 2005 to 0.3% in 2024, reaching the leading level among middle – and high-income countries. The current epidemic presents three characteristics:
The transformation of transmission routes: Sexual transmission accounted for over 95%, among which the infection rate among men who have sex with men (MSM) reached 8.1%, becoming the main growth point
The proportion of infected people aged 50 and above rose from 11.2% in 2010 to 32.8% in 2024 due to changes in age structure
There is a significant regional aggregation: The reported cases in southwestern provinces such as Yunnan, Guangxi and Sichuan account for 43% of the national total
Ii. Multi-dimensional Prevention and Control System: From Scientific Intervention to Social Co-governance
(1) Core Prevention and Control Strategy: A modern extension of the ABC Theory
The classic ABC strategies for AIDS prevention and control (Abstinence, Be faithful, Condom) have been endowed with new connotations in contemporary times:
A: Access to treatment: By 2024, 86% of infected individuals worldwide will receive antiviral treatment, and the treatment coverage rate in China will reach 92.3%. The viral load suppression rate will be maintained at over 97% through the “treatment upon discovery” strategy
B: Biomedical prevention (Biomedical Intervention) : Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) drugs have reduced the infection risk of high-risk groups by 90%. Since 2022, PrEP has been included in medical insurance outpatient reimbursement in China, and the annual prescription volume has exceeded 100,000
Youdaoplaceholder6 C: Combination prevention: Promote the closed-loop management of “testing – treatment – care”. Pilot “Internet +HIV testing” in cities such as Shenzhen and Shanghai, and increase the testing coverage rate by 40% through self-service testing kits in community pharmacies
(2) Intervention for key groups: Precise measures to break the transmission chain
For high-risk groups such as MSM, female sex workers and drug users, China has established a collaborative mechanism of “disease control center – social organizations – medical institutions” :
MSM population: Peer education is carried out through public welfare apps such as “Rainbow Health”, and the “rapid test + instant consultation” service is promoted. The intervention coverage rate in cities such as Beijing and Guangzhou exceeds 75%
The number of drug users: 897 methadone maintenance treatment clinics have been established across the country, serving 120,000 drug users annually. The proportion of transmission through injection drug use has dropped from 44.3% in 2005 to 1.2% in 2024
For the floating population: Set up “health service packages” at construction sites, long-distance bus stations and other places, which include testing reagents, condoms and health education manuals
(3) Eliminating Discrimination: The Last Mile of Social Cognition
Although medicine has long confirmed that daily contact does not spread HIV, the 2024 “China AIDS Social Attitude Survey Report” shows that 38.5% of respondents still refuse to work with infected people, and 52.3% oppose their children being in the same class as the children of infected people. To this end, our country has taken three key actions:
Incorporate AIDS prevention and control knowledge into compulsory courses in primary and secondary schools, and achieve full coverage of textbooks starting from 2025
In order to promote the de-stigmatization of the media, CCTV has launched the documentary “Life First”, which showcases the normal life of the infected
Legislation safeguards rights and interests. The Basic Law on Medical and Health Care and Health Promotion explicitly prohibits discrimination against HIV-infected individuals and their families
Iii. Monitoring and Early Warning System: Smart Prevention and Control in the Era of Big Data
(1) Three-dimensional construction of the monitoring network
China has established the world’s largest AIDS surveillance network, which includes:
Sentinel monitoring: 1,897 national-level monitoring sentinel points have been set up across the country. Samples of high-risk groups are collected monthly to dynamically monitor changes in the infection rate
Laboratory testing: All county-level disease control centers have the ability to confirm HIV, and viral load testing is carried out through “township-level sampling, county-level testing, and provincial-level verification”.
Case report: Medical institutions should report cases directly through the network within 24 hours after discovering them, and the system will automatically generate a heat map of the epidemic
(2) Digital technology empowers epidemic analysis
The “Smart AIDS Prevention” project launched in 2023 has achieved remarkable results:
AI prediction model: Based on Baidu Maps heat map and social software data, it predicts high-incidence areas of the epidemic six months in advance, with an early warning accuracy rate of 82%
Blockchain evidence storage: Utilizing encryption technology to protect the privacy of infected individuals, achieving cross-regional medical data sharing, and addressing the issue of treatment interruption for the floating population
Gene sequencing traceability: By analyzing the transmission chain through the gene sequence of the HIV strain, 37 clustered epidemic sources were successfully traced in 2024
(3) Global Monitoring Collaboration: Joint Prevention and control of Virus mutations
The high variability of HIV calls for international cooperation:
The virus gene database is shared by 147 countries around the world for real-time monitoring of drug-resistant mutant strains
China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention has joined the global HIV resistance surveillance network. Surveillance in 2024 shows that the resistance rate of first-line drugs remains below 5%
In response to the prevalence of the novel recombinant strain CRF01_AE, China and Thailand have jointly carried out vaccine research and development, which has entered Phase II clinical trials
Towards the goal of ending AIDS by 2030
The United Nations has put forward the sustainable development goal of “ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030″, and the world is currently in a critical period of breakthrough. China’s experience shows that AIDS is not only a medical issue but also a social one. When antiviral treatment changes from a “luxury” to a regular medical insurance drug, when the fear of AIDS gives way to scientific understanding, and when every citizen can actively participate in testing and protection, this protracted battle will eventually see the dawn of victory.
As Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, said, “AIDS has taught us that in the face of global health crises, unity is more powerful than any virus.” After the 38th World AIDS Day, let us use data as a mirror, science as a tool, and co-governance as a shield to jointly build a solid Great Wall against HIV and make the vision of “zero AIDS” a reality.
Post time: Dec-04-2025