Hong Kong records 365 new HIV cases in 2024 – a decline for 9th consecutive year

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Hong Kong recorded 365 new HIV cases in 2024, with the youngest infected individual aged 14, health authorities have said.

The Department of Health announced on Thursday that the city saw a decline in the number of new HIV infections for the ninth consecutive year.

In 2024, health authorities received reports of new HIV cases from 297 males and 68 females aged between 14 and 89.

A total of 312 people reported they were infected through sexual contact, with 216 cases involving homosexual or bisexual contact and the remaining 96 cases through heterosexual contact.

The newly recorded cases last year put the city’s HIV infection toll since 1984 at 12,403, said Bonnie Wong, consultant for the Special Preventive Programme at the Centre for Health Protection’s Public Health Services Branch.

“The prevalence of HIV infection among the general public in Hong Kong remained at 0.1 per cent, well below the global average, demonstrating the effectiveness of AIDS control and prevention in Hong Kong,” Wong said.

AIDS cases

On Thursday, the Department of Health said it recorded 74 new AIDS cases involving 63 males and 11 females. The figure put the cumulative total of confirmed AIDS cases in the city since 1985 at 2,557.

The proportion of late diagnoses among the new HIV infections stood at around 40 to 50 per cent, the health department said.

It warned that late diagnoses could lead to a greater risk of “opportunistic infections” and malignancies, which could result in a higher mortality rate.

Individuals with late diagnoses may also contribute to an increased risk of HIV transmission in the community due to their “unsuppressed viral load,” the department said.

A recent public health surveillance survey conducted by the Department of Health found that 55 per cent of female sex workers in Hong Kong had their last HIV test in the preceding year.

The figure marked an increase from 37 per cent reported in a similar survey conducted in 2022.

Ninety-nine per cent of the female sex workers surveyed said that they used condoms when having sex with non-regular clients. But the use of condoms with regular customers was “less consistent” among some respondents.

The findings showed a need to step up efforts on promoting condom use, Wong said.

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