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Last October, UNICEF, UNAIDS and other partners launched the 2005 to 2010 global campaign on children and AIDS, called "Unite for children, United against AIDS".
The campaign has now officially launched in China, to help AIDS orphans and HIV/AIDS affected children. China Drive reporter Zhou Jing has more.
(Audio available for download)
Huang Jinhong from Fuyang in Anhui Province lost both of her parents to AIDS in 2001 when she was only 12 years old.
Tears run down her face as she recounts her most difficult time. "At that time, I didn't know much about AIDS. Neither did the villagers. I was looked down upon by others. I even couldn't go to school for quite a long time."
With a little help from society, Huang is now back at school and working hard to make up for all the years she's missed.
Huang is lucky because she has finally overcome the public's prejudice and her own sense of hopelessness to pursue her own life.
But there are still thousands of AIDS orphans and HIV-positive children in China who are now the missing face of AIDS.
To help these youths, China and its UN partners officially launched a five year campaign on Children and AIDS Sunday in Beijing.
The opening ceremony was attended by government and UN officials, civil society partners and showbiz celebrities, as well as AIDS orphans from Fuyang and hundreds of students.
Peter Piot, the Executive Director of UNAIDS, spoke about the the jobs of the campaign, which can be concluded with 4 "P"s.
The campaign also aims to improve young people's awareness of HIV/AIDS.
Despite the education campaigns of recent years, a Ministry of Education study found widespread ignorance about the disease. Two-thirds of children between 12 and 20 in rural areas still think AIDS can be transmitted by sharing chopsticks.
Vice Health Minister Huang Jiefu said more young people have to get involved in the campaign to spread the truth about HIV/AIDS. "We hope that schools and Communist Youth League will organize students and young people to go into the vast rural areas and into communities to spread the knowledge of the epidemic and care for the adolescents that are affected by the illness."
China has in total an estimated 650,000 HIV/AIDS cases and around 76,000 AIDS orphans. More than 150,000 children may be orphaned by the disease by 2010.
The campaign will unite society to fight against the AIDS, one of the main diseases threatening China's future generation.
China Drive is one of CRI's radio programs aired from Monday to Friday. We pick the most interesting life reports from China Drive. Stay tuned.
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