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AIDS Fighting in China

2004-12-1 9:00:31 CRIENGLISH.com

December 1st marks World AIDS Day. The AIDS epidemic afflicts many nations, and China is no exception. So far, the country has reported 840,000 HIV carriers, and the number might rocket to 10 million by 2010 if China fails to tackle the problem effectively. Putting the plague under control has remained an urgent task. So what has China been doing to deal with the AIDS crisis? Find out more on this edition of China Horizons.

December 1st is World AIDS Day, drawing worldwide attention to the deadly disease plaguing tens of millions of people around the globe. In China today, about 840,000 people are HIV-positive, including 80,000 AIDS patients. China has been taking proactive and forceful measures to control the epidemic and help AIDS patients receive proper medical care. On today's program, we'll take a look at what the country has been doing to fight against the deadly epidemic.
In China, talk of the AIDS crisis reminds people of central China's Henan Province, one of the worst-hit regions in the country. The chief reason for AIDS rampancy in the province is not sexual contact or intravenous drug use, but the illegal blood collecting business.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, illegal blood trade was prevalent in the rural areas of Henan. Since selling blood was a quick way to make money, many destitute rural residents sold their blood to illegal dealers and to carelessly-run blood stations with poor hygiene and backward technology.
The state cracked down on such illegal businesses in 1998, but its aftermath was astounding: The AIDS epidemic spread throughout the rural areas of Henan Province as a great many blood sellers were infected with HIV.
A recent survey by the Henan provincial government shows the number of HIV carriers in Henan has topped 25,000. Among them, 97 percent come from rural areas. To curb the spread of AIDS, over the past two years the province has redoubled its efforts to control the disease and help its victims. So has the province's hard work paid off?

Wenlou village in central Henan is the hardest-hit village in the province. It has been devastated by HIV infections following mass blood-selling during the 1990s. So far more than 400 people are infected with HIV, and two-thirds of them have become AIDS patients, ranking Wenlou first among all the AIDS-affected villages in Henan. As a result, the village has come to symbolize the province's fierce struggle against AIDS.
The large-scale outbreak of AIDS cases in Wenlou and other rural areas of Henan Province over the past four years has pushed local governments to take painstaking efforts to curb the epidemic. Ma Jianzhong is director of the Henan provincial public health department.

"The province has taken forceful steps to crack down on all illegal blood-collecting stations and has invested 20 million US dollars to build 18 standardized blood banks. Since 1998, when the Blood Donation Law was put into effect, all blood used in clinical treatments has been obtained from free donations and has been certified to have met state quality standards. These measures have proved effective in stopping the spread of AIDS via blood transfusion."

In view of the growing number of cases, two years ago the provincial government began providing free medical care for all AIDS patients and dispatching medical workers to AIDS-plagued villages on a regular basis.
In Wenlou, AIDS patients are given medical certificates with which they can receive anti-viral medication free of charge. After two years of comprehensive treatment, many patients have seen a great improvement in their health.

"I used to be so badly ill that I was confined to bed without any strength to get up and move around. Running out of money to buy medicine, I thought I would die in no time. Back then, I hadn't expected that I could live to this day. It's all because of free medical treatment. Since I began taking anti-viral medicine, I feel more and more energetic. People all say I look like a new person."

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