China facing tough challenge of HIV/AIDS

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, December 01, 2003

China facing tough challenge of HIV/AIDS

China is at a crucial moment of winning the war against HIV/AIDS, experts said at a recent forum on the care of children affected by the rapidly spreading disease. China is marking the 16th World AIDS Day by mobilizing the whole society to participate in the fight against AIDS, with Ma Xiaowei, vice minister of health, highly praising China's AIDS prevention and control work.

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China is at a crucial moment of winning the war against HIV/AIDS, experts said at a recent forum on the care of children affected by the rapidly spreading disease.

China is at the early stage of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the nation will not necessarily develop into a full-blown HIV/AIDS country as has happened in many parts of Africa, said Ray Yip, director of China-US AIDS Prevention and Care Project, at the forum held on Sunday.

However, this must be based on enhanced awareness and immediate prevention efforts, said Yip, also AIDS counselor of United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Office in China.

Experts at the forum said the present HIV/AIDS status of China is similar to that of South Africa 15 years ago.

The highly endangered group are mainly drug users, said Yip. Statistics show that about 60 percent of Chinese HIV/AIDS victims are infected through sharing needles for intravenous drug use.

"We know where they are and it is now relatively easy to find them and stop the spread of the disease," said Yip.

Yip defined prostitutes as the bridge group, saying that negligence would lead to wide infection among ordinary people through prostitution.

Though the Chinese central government is making good progress towards HIV/AIDS prevention and care, some local officials and the public still need to pay more attention to the issue, said Koen Vanormelingen, health official with the UNICEF Office in China.

In his trips around China, Vanormelingen has met many local officials who still feel the problem is some distance away, when it is actually on their doorsteps.

South Africa and Zambia said the same thing at the beginning, but now they have seen an AIDS catastrophe, said Vanormelingen.

It is reported that China now has 840,000 HIV carriers, including 80,000 AIDS patients. The figure might rocket to ten million in the best case by 2010, predicted experts. The UN has warned China that cases could reach 20 million by 2010, if drastic actions were not immediately taken.

After the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak this spring, China should learn to tackle the epidemic before it is too late, said experts at the forum.

They also believed that the mechanisms and successful experiences learned from the SARS crisis could help China deal with the more frightening epidemic in a mature way.

"We should learn a lesson from the past and avoid the HIV/AIDS bomb in China," said Vanormelingen.

China mobilizes whole society to fight against AIDS

China is marking the 16th World AIDS Day by mobilizing the whole society to participate in the fight against AIDS, with Ma Xiaowei, vice minister of health, highly praising China's AIDS prevention and control work.

Speaking Monday at the awarding ceremony of the "121 joint action", China's AIDS donation plan, Ma said the government was pleased to see the formation of an anti-AIDS force, led by the central government, with all levels of governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the public as participants.

"The support from scientists and enterprises is particularly significant for AIDS-related education and publicity," Ma said.

China has one million HIV-carriers today, and the number is increasing at a high speed. In face of the severe situation, Ma said the State Council had made long-term plans on AIDS prevention and control, including more investment in HIV medicine research, and popularizing and reducing the cost of AIDS treatment.

Khalid Malik, UN resident coordinator in China as well as UN Development Program resident representative, congratulated the Chinese government, on behalf of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, on its achievements in AIDS prevention and control.

Malik said the United Nations would intensively cooperate with the Chinese government especially in making AIDS-related laws.

He said that China must ensure through laws that discrimination against HIV-carriers is eliminated, AIDS-related education is carried out, protection of high risk groups like drug abusers and sex workers from HIV epidemic is enforced and sufficient medical treatment is given to AIDS sufferers.

"We hope that all Chinese citizens involve themselves in the fight against the AIDS epidemic," Khalid said.

The "121 joint action" was sponsored by the Chinese Foundation for Prevention of STD and AIDS, to collect funds for China's AIDS prevention and control. According to the foundation, it has collected 4.6 million yuan (556,000 US dollars) and 4.9 million (592,000 US dollars) worth of medicine and relief materials respectively.

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