Dec. 2 - A Chinese province which has been ravaged by AIDS plans to force all couples in the worst-hit areas to take compulsory HIV tests before being married.

 

The results of the free tests in Yunnan, obligatory from Jan. 1, will be given by health authorities to the would-be spouse of anyone who tests positive and does not tell their partner.

 

The rules are part of new AIDS prevention and control laws passed by the regional legislature, with target areas specified by health authorities at a later date.

 

At the end of September Yunnan had 47,314 people officially living with HIV or AIDS -- or a quarter of the national total, Xinhua News Agency said. Located near the heroin-producing Golden Triangle, it became an AIDS hotspot because of intravenous drugs use.

 

In a province like Yunnan where AIDS is prevalent, the new regulation can better safeguard the rights of people who are susceptible to HIV infection," the report quoted Zhang Changan, director of the office of the Provincial Committee for AIDS Prevention and Control, as saying.

 

The Health Ministry said last week that the reported number of Chinese HIV/AIDS cases at the end of October was 183,733, up from 144,089 at the end of 2005, but both Beijing and the United Nations estimate the true number of cases at about 650,000.