KUNMING -- Yunnan Province, severely afflicted by HIV/AIDS in China's southwest, has set up a new AIDS prevention and control bureau to coordinate AIDS prevention and halt the spread of the deadly disease, local health authorities said.

Yunnan Provincial Bureau of AIDS Prevention and Control, which was officially established on Thursday, aims to coordinate organizations and anti-AIDS initiatives to fight the disease, according to the provincial health bureau.

Xu Heping, deputy director of health in the province, will lead the bureau.

Yunnan, bordering Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar in the south and west and near the notorious "Golden Triangle", has China's worst HIV/AIDS figures.

HIV/AIDS cases have been found in all of the province's 129 counties, according to the provincial health bureau.

By the end of last December, Yunnan had 48,591 people living with HIV/AIDS, accounting for 26 percent of the nation's total, including 1,768 people who have died of the disease.

China is at a key stage in its fight against AIDS/HIV. A report from the International Labor Organization estimates that China could lose five million laborers by 2015 if it fails to take effective measures to counter the scourge.

China reported 183,733 HIV and AIDS cases in 2006, up 30 percent from 2005. The increase was partly due to an improvement in case reporting.