BEIJING- The rate of HIV/AIDS infection from mother-to-child in China dropped from 34.8 percent at the start of 2009 to 7.9 percent in 2010, according to a senior official with the Ministry of Health.

In 2009 and 2010, the central government allocated 8.3 billion yuan ($1.3 billion) to carry out a series of health projects for women in the rural areas, including child delivery in hospitals, tests for cervical cancer and breast cancer, and mother-to-child HIV/AIDS infection prevention, said Vice Minister of Health Ma Xiaowei Monday at a meeting on women and children.

According to Ma, 13.9 million pregnant women in rural areas received HIV/AIDS-related consultations and examinations in the two-year period.

Figures from the ministry show that the country had 429,000 registered AIDS patients and HIV carriers as of the end of September, up by nearly 60,000 over the past 11 months.

Although growth in the registered HIV/AIDS population has declined in recent years, previous research also indicated that a large group was not covered in the official count.