Medical specialists have warned  China of an HIV/AIDS epidemic caused by unsafe blood collection  and supply even though so far it has caused the least amount of  HIV infections, of all the causes, across the country.

   "China has to learn lessons from other countries that have  reported many HIV/AIDS cases associated with blood transfusion,  and must take determined measures to ensure blood safety," said  Professor Zheng Xiwen.

   Eight people out of every 1,000 HIV/AIDS sufferers are  confirmed as being victims of unsafe blood collection and supply  in China, whose HIV/AIDS figure is feared to have surpassed 600, 000.

   Intravenous drug use, often involving shared syringes, is  responsible for 71 percent of HIV infections, and 21 percent are  caused by unknown reasons, with another seven percent caused by  sexual contact, according to statistics from the HIV/AIDS  Prevention and Control Center under the Ministry of Health (MOH).

   The AIDS virus can be spread via sexual contact, blood, or  infant infection from the mother carrying the virus. Blood-borne  transmission is usually caused by blood transfusion and unsafe  blood collection, said the professor with the AIDS center.

   Many developed and developing countries have reported HIV/AIDS  transmissions through blood since the first case was disclosed in  1983, he said, citing a French case in which thousands of  recipients of contaminated blood became AIDS victims in the mid  1980s.

   In Japan, 30 percent of hemophilia patients were infected with  HIV after using an inactivated platelet factor, he said, adding  that other blood-related AIDS incidents have also taken place in  Romania, the United States, and Germany.

   Three to five percent of HIV infections around the world have  been caused by blood transfusions, and such a ratio has hit 25  percent and 20 percent among African children and women, he said.

      "Controlling blood-borne diseases remains a task for global  medics because current blood testing technology can not guarantee  100 percent safety," noted Gao Feng, deputy director of the  Shanghai Blood Center, a World Health Organization collaborator.

   Prof. Zheng pointed out that attention should also be paid to  unsafe blood collection, such as failed sterilization or sharing  of devices.

   Blood sellers run a high risk of becoming ill because blood  plasma stations pool the blood of many sellers, separate the  plasma for biotechnology companies, and transfer the remaining  fraction, mainly red cells, back into the sellers, who think the  process is healthy because of the limited blood loss.

   "If one person is sick, the rest will also fall ill," and such  cases have occurred in some South American and Asian nations,  Zheng said.

   Gao Feng said the key measure to ensure blood safety is the  common practice of blood donation because the safety level of  blood from donors is five to ten times that of blood sellers.

   Although a national law has become effective to spur blood  donation for clinical use, China has to further encourage blood  donation, he said.

   Qualified blood collecting stations and strict blood tests are  needed, particularly in impoverished regions, he said, indicating  in some areas illegal blood deals manipulated by "bloodheads" and  commercial blood plasma stations have resulted in the spread of  HIV/AIDS and hepatitis among blood sellers.

   China plans to invest heavily in the construction of blood  collection and supply networks in central and western areas, and  to close illegal blood stations this year, according to the  sources of the MOH.