Situation Analysis - China

Illicit drug use
With an estimated 2.4 million drug injectors, Chinais estimated to have the world's largest population of injecting drug users (UNAIDS AIDS Epidemic Update 2009).

The World Drug Report 2009 reports that opiates (90%), amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) and sedatives are the most commonly used drugs in China, among people treated for drug problems.

Prevalence of injecting drug use in China ranges between 0.19-0.31% of the adult population, an estimated 2.35 million people inject drugs (Mathers et al 2008).

HIV prevalence
In 2008, UNAIDS estimated there were 700,000 people living with HIV in China. The HIV adult prevalence in China is an estimated 0.1% (UNAIDS 2008), rising to 12.3% among IDUs (Mathers et al. 2008).

UNAIDS (2008) estimates that the number of people in China who have a high risk of exposure to HIV could be between 30 and 50 million: mainly IDUs and their sexual partners, sex workers, their clients and partners, as well as men who have unprotected sex with men.