Letters | Even as HIV rates fall, Hong Kong can’t afford to get complacent

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Hong Kong has made remarkable progress in HIV prevention, but is still some distance away from achieving the goal of ending HIV as a public health threat by 2030. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 11:30am, 18 May 2025

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Hong Kong has made remarkable progress in HIV prevention. In 2024, the city recorded just 365 new HIV cases – the ninth consecutive year of decline since peaking in 2015. The prevalence rate among the general population stands at 0.1 per cent, far below the 2023 global average of 0.6 per cent.

This is undoubtedly encouraging and worthy of recognition, but progress does not equal victory. Complacency would be a costly mistake, especially with Hong Kong still some distance away from achieving the goal of ending HIV as a public health threat by 2030.

Beneath the encouraging figures lie troubling trends. Many new cases are late presenters – people whose CD4 cells have dropped to a very low level or those with an Aids-defining illness when they seek care.

A significant number of late presenters do not belong to high-risk populations. Prevention and outreach strategies may have blind spots. Stigma also remains a barrier. The fear of being judged continues to deter people from getting tested and receiving timely treatment, threatening to unravel hard-won gains.

To strengthen progress, Hong Kong must forge deeper cross-sectoral collaboration. Continued investment in prevention is essential; it must expand. While government support has been crucial, the private sector must step up, too. This approach mirrors mainland China’s 2024 State Council directive, which called for the mobilisation of society-wide support for HIV prevention.