The country's fight against this deadly disease has involved both official and non-governmental organizations.The State Council, China's cabinet, publicized a circular on Sunday admitting that the AIDS epidemic is still spreading at a rapid pace in the country and a series of urgent measures must be taken to keep the virus in check. Here with us is our reporter Na Lan. Would you first give us a brief introduction of China's current AIDS situation.

Reporter: Ok, China's fight against HIV/AIDS has lasted 19 years, since the first HIV infectious case was discovered in 1985. The assessment report on China's AIDS prevention and control, released by Ministry of Health, shows HIV is an epidemic covering all the mainland's 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities. The last available information from the government says there are approximately 840,000 HIV-carriers, of whom 80,000 are confirmed AIDS patients. Experts also warn that the number could reach 10 million by 2010 if urgent measures are not taken.

Jon : Do we have any information on how the HIV/AIDS virus has been transmitted in the country?

Nalan: Well, the majority of Chinese HIV carriers have been infected through blood transfusions. However, the ratio of sexual infections increased from 5 percent in 1997 to nearly 11 percent in 2002, and more Chinese infants have been directly infected by their mothers.

Anchor: So, there is a lot of pressure on the Chinese government to curb the spread of the disease and provide more than adequate information and methods to help sufferers?

Reporter: Yes. The country is now taking strong measures to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Anchor: Sure, what are the measures?

Nalan: First is to eliminate social discrimination against AIDS patients in China. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is acturally the first high-ranking official to shake hands and have face-to-face conversation with AIDS patients to show the government's determination.

Also, China has intensified international cooperation and legislation on AIDS control and prevention. Other effective measures include providing free medical treatment for farmers and the urban poor, establishing National AIDS control centers, etc.

Anchor: I notice there is some criticism from the international community on China, saying the country has disguised and ignored the scale of its growing AIDS epidemic.

Reporter: Actually China faces such criticism not just from overseas, but also from some domestic human rights experts.
Some even say if China does not check AIDS in time, the country's achievements in human rights protection might be cast into the wind and China might be the scene of the same tragedies as in southern Africa. Social experts say the domestic news coverage on AIDS is still narrow and shallow and call Chinese media to improve and shoulder more responsibilities to fight against AIDS.

One thing to mention, China is also gearing up its step on developing domestically-made medicines and treatment to ease the financial burden of AIDS patients. The scientists have made progress in making traditional Chinese herbal medicines, which are said to activate the immune system to fight HIV and the least expensive of all available drugs.

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