Measures strengthened as AIDS deaths peak

Beijing - AIDS claimed 7,743 lives on the mainland in 2010, making it the country's top killer among all infectious diseases that year, the Ministry of Health reported on Wednesday.

The high number of fatalities made 2010 the third year in a row that AIDS ranked as the most deadly infection on the mainland, said Hao Yao, the deputy director of the ministry's disease prevention and control bureau.

"Deaths from AIDS have peaked in recent years but that doesn't mean that treatment and control measures aren't working well," he said.