AIDS top killer disease in China last year

The HIV/AIDS virus became China’s most deadly infectious disease for the first time last year, Reuters reported, citing state media. The Ministry of Health said on Tuesday that the virus had killed 6,897 people in the first nine months of 2008. So far, 34,864 people in China have succumbed to HIV/AIDS and, as of the end of September last year, there were 264,302 virus carriers in the country. Tuberculosis was the second biggest killer from January to September, followed by rabies, hepatitis and infant tetanus. China launched a national sex education campaign on Sunday encouraging more people to seek treatment for sexually transmitted diseases and infertility.