The number of reported HIV carriers and people with full-blown AIDS has risen to 41 in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, compared to 30 cases last year.

Three people in the remote region have died of AIDS, according to Yuzhan Lhaco, deputy director of the institute for prevention and control of AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD) with Tibet Autonomous Regional Center of Disease Control and Prevention.

HIV/AIDS infections have been found in urban and rural areas and more men than women have been infected, said Yuzhan

Two state-level outposts are monitoring the spread of HIV/AIDS and the Tibet government has set up a HIV/AIDS prevention and control center along with counseling and testing services.

"Testing is free of charge and HIV carriers are treated with free medicines," said Yuzhan, who said the vast region and spare population makes it difficult to monitor the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Official statistics show that among the 650,000 Chinese living with HIV/AIDS, 44.3 percent were infected through drug injection, 10.7 percent through blood transfusions and 43.6 percent through unsafe sex.

(Xinhua News Agency June 16, 2007)