(CNN) When Xiao Niao was in high school, her teacher gathered all the girls in her class and told them if they were raped they should take the morning after pill. That was the limit of her formal sex education. For millions of young Chinese people, it's more than they ever got. As China marks World AIDS Day Thursday, the effects of that missing knowledge is more evident than ever, with growing numbers of HIV infections and staggeringly high abortion rates. No protection In 2015, there were 115,000 new HIV infections in China, according to China's National Center for STD/AIDS Prevention and Control. Of those, 17,000, or 14.7%, were in the 15-24 age group.Lack of formal sex education is linked to a spike in HIV infectionsNew apps hope to fill the gap and promote safe sex
While the overall figure is fairly low compared to _'s massive population, the year-on-year growth rate among young people is around 35%. Some universities have even installed vending machines selling _ home testing kits to students.