Only 16 per cent of people of child-bearing age in the city know that condoms can prevent AIDS, Shanghai Morning Post reports.

Although condom usage has increased from 9.49 per cent in 1996 to 12.38 per cent this year, the situation is far from ideal according to experts in Shanghai.

Among the AIDS-infected population of Shanghai, the proportion of those who contracted the disease by taking drugs and receiving tainted blood transfusions has dropped, while the number of those infected through sexual activity continues to gro, said the newspaper.

The sharing of needles among drug users is still the main channel for infection by the AIDS virus, accounting for 61.6 per cent of the total.

The proportion of those infected through sexual contact has risen from 9 per cent in 2001 to 17 per cent this year.

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