Chinese Pay Close Attention to AIDs PreventionFan Chesheng, a blind man from north China's Hebei Province, will receive a Christmas card and a special gift from the Director of China National Radio and representative of United Nations' Children's Fund (UNICEF) in China, an award for participating in the AIDS prevention program.The Central People's Broadcasting Station developed a program to spread information about AIDS prevention to the public from November 12 to December 1 this year. The 20-day program is broadcast through dialogue and by taking phone calls on a hotline with several AIDS experts. As part of the radio's "Medicine Consultation Platform," the program is jointly sponsored by the broadcasting station and UNICEF to mark December 1, this year's World AIDS Day. To date, a total of 2,000 people have participated in the program, Fan being among them. After listening to the program by the broadcasting station, he provided the correct answer in Braille. Edwin Judd, representative of UNICEF China and Yang Bo, Director of China National Radio signed a Christmas card together to express their thanks to Fan. Over 200 students of Beijing University set up a volunteer team today to help spread knowledge on AIDS prevention, and to send their care and understanding to HIV carriers. Since the first AIDS case in China was reported in 1985, over 20,000 people have been reported as being HIV positive at the end of September this year and 397 AIDS patients have died, Vice Minister of Health Yin Dakui said Friday, December 1. Experts predict that if no measures are taken, China will have over 10 million HIV carriers by the year 2010. The Chinese government is extending health education among the public. The theme of this year's AIDS day is "prevention of AIDS, Men make the difference". Li Ying, an expert from China Health Education Institute, called on the whole society to pay close attention to AIDS prevention, and help to establish healthier lifestyles. |
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