The Health Bureau (SSM) has announced that it recorded 17 HIV infections during the first nine months of this year.
The 17 infections, all local residents, comprised 15 males and 2 females. According to an SSM statement on Sunday, 12 of the cases were infected through homosexual or bisexual contact, while four cases were infected through heterosexual contact. The remaining case was caused by blood transfusion, the statement said.
According to the statement, the 17 cases comprised eight patients aged between 20 and 29, one aged between 30 and 39, one aged between 40 and 49, and seven aged 50 or over.
All 17 patients are undergoing treatment at the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre, the statement said.
According to the statement, SSM Director Alvis Lo Iek Long chaired a meeting last week where he briefed officials from other public entities and representatives from the city’s health sector about his bureau’s work tackling HIV infections.
Dr Lo said during the meeting that thanks to the continuous increase in the number of HIV infectees being detected and treated globally, new infections and deaths have been gradually decreasing in the world, adding this indicated that prompt detection and treatment for HIV infectees is an effective way to prevent HIV spread in the community.
Dr Lo noted that current HIV medicines can suppress an infectee’s virus to an undetectable level, in which case the spread of the HIV virus can be effectively prevented.
Dr Lo also said that the number of new HIV infections recorded in Macau annually over the past three years has been dropping.
However, the health chief warned that with Macau’s full resumption of cross-border travel after the COVID-19 pandemic, the city was now facing an increased risk of HIV spreading.
Health Bureau (SSM) Director Alvis Lo Iek Long (centre) chairs last week’s meeting of the government’s commission on AIDS prevention and treatment, flanked by two members of the commission, Kuok Cheong U (left), who heads the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre, and Leong Iek Hou, who heads the bureau’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Leong was promoted to CDC chief early this month. – Photo: SSM
