Senior Official Urges to End Illegal Blood Buying

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, December 10, 2001

Senior Official Urges to End Illegal Blood Buying

A senior Chinese legislator urged the government to severely punish illegal blood-buying companies, responsible for many HIV infections.

China Marks World AIDS Day

State: determined to punish illegal blood deals

A senior Chinese legislator urged the government to severely punish illegal blood-buying companies, responsible for many HIV infections.

"Owners of such companies must be brought to court and punished severely," said Jiang Chunyun, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the Ninth National People's Congress.

Jiang, at a family planning meeting last week, said local governments nationwide should play a crucial role in the fight against HIV/AIDS, a virus which Jiang stated "can affect the future of a nation."

Farmer: get infected by underground blood selling

Illegal blood buying in China involves unclean techniques, exposing blood donors to possible infections, in particular the HIV virus.

AIDS Girl-- A victim of dirty blood deals in Henan

Many poverty-stricken farmers in China sell their blood to such companies for money but at the same time contract the deadly disease.

"They (blood-buying companies) took my blood and put it into a small plastic bag with my name on it," said a farmer from Central China's Henan Province, who wished to remain anonymous.

He is an HIV victim of the underground blood selling.

Wenlou: a village of 241 reported HIV cases

A total of 241 people have been found HIV positive in Wenlou Villages in Shangcai County, central China's Henan Province, according to a press release from the Ministry of Health on August 23.

In the early 1990s, profiteers illegally set up some blood collection stations in the province, they surreptitiously bought blood among villagers in Wenlou and sold it to some blood products profit-seeking companies for plasma, of whom many had since got infected with HIV because of the blood collection.

Formed of six natural villages, Wenlou has a population of 3170, of which about 1310 people had sold blood in 1995 and a 43.48 percent of these were found HIV positive in November 1999. In April 2001, 318 people turned HIV positive, or 19.33 percent out of a population of 1645. Before 1995, out of 568 blood donators, 244 were found HIV positive, or 42.96 percent.

According to a survey taken, 214 people are found HIV positive and 38 become AIDS carriers among the whole community of Wenlou Villages. So far, the disease has taken a death toll of 31 since 1995 and 5 people have died since 2001.

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