China's lack of HIV/AIDS awareness undermines control programs
By, Dune Lawrence, Bloomberg.com, April 9, 2007
Two-thirds of China's 1.3 billion people don't know how to protect themselves against HIV, undermining the nation's efforts to stem the spread of the virus that causes AIDS.
HIV/AIDS cases are increasing by 30 percent a year in China, with 84,000 new infections and 25,000 deaths recorded last year, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. The data was presented by the aid organization at a forum in Beijing late last week.
Programs have failed to improve awareness of the disease and to control its spread. Last year, 3 billion yuan ($388 million) was spent on HIV projects, equal to the cost of building 20 kilometers (12 miles) of road in Beijing, said Jing Jun, an adviser to the government on AIDS policy and director of the Social Policy Research Institute at Tsinghua University.
``China is entering a stage of AIDS fatigue,'' Jing told the forum. ``China is facing an enormous task, and we can't claim that we have won the battle, or even have a draw with the AIDS epidemic.''
At least 650,000 people in China are estimate to be living with HIV, or the equivalent of 0.1 percent of adults aged 15 to 49, according to the United Nations. That compares with the global prevalence of 1 percent.
``The government, in a very short period of time, has developed policies which are excellent,'' Henk Bekedam, the World Health Organization's representative in China, told the forum. ``While China is very much promoting intervention programs, it's also very clear that those intervention programs are not having good coverage.''
Sexual Transmission
While shared needles used by injecting drug users are the dominant cause of HIV transmission in China, accounting for about 38 percent of infections, sexual transmission is becoming the leading cause of new infections, said He Jinglin, Country Officer for UNAIDS in China.
``It's really changing in China,'' He said. In the past, injecting drug users and those donating blood were most at risk of infection, He said.
China had about 320 government-run clinics using methadone to treat drug addiction at the end of last year. Another 1,200 are needed to ensure adequate coverage, Bekedam said, adding that 75 percent of those living in China don't understand how AIDS is spread or how to protect themselves.
``China has made 10-fold more money available for HIV/AIDS over the last two to four years,'' he said. ``I'm not saying that's enough, but I do also want to note that in the provinces where we go, many counties have money but they don't know what to do with it.''
To contact the reporter on this story: Dune Lawrence in Beijing at dlawrence6@bloomberg.net
Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=aWjx5pvShIg8
Two-thirds of China's 1.3 billion people don't know how to protect themselves against HIV, undermining the nation's efforts to stem the spread of the virus that causes AIDS.
HIV/AIDS cases are increasing by 30 percent a year in China, with 84,000 new infections and 25,000 deaths recorded last year, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. The data was presented by the aid organization at a forum in Beijing late last week.
Programs have failed to improve awareness of the disease and to control its spread. Last year, 3 billion yuan ($388 million) was spent on HIV projects, equal to the cost of building 20 kilometers (12 miles) of road in Beijing, said Jing Jun, an adviser to the government on AIDS policy and director of the Social Policy Research Institute at Tsinghua University.
``China is entering a stage of AIDS fatigue,'' Jing told the forum. ``China is facing an enormous task, and we can't claim that we have won the battle, or even have a draw with the AIDS epidemic.''
At least 650,000 people in China are estimate to be living with HIV, or the equivalent of 0.1 percent of adults aged 15 to 49, according to the United Nations. That compares with the global prevalence of 1 percent.
``The government, in a very short period of time, has developed policies which are excellent,'' Henk Bekedam, the World Health Organization's representative in China, told the forum. ``While China is very much promoting intervention programs, it's also very clear that those intervention programs are not having good coverage.''
Sexual Transmission
While shared needles used by injecting drug users are the dominant cause of HIV transmission in China, accounting for about 38 percent of infections, sexual transmission is becoming the leading cause of new infections, said He Jinglin, Country Officer for UNAIDS in China.
``It's really changing in China,'' He said. In the past, injecting drug users and those donating blood were most at risk of infection, He said.
China had about 320 government-run clinics using methadone to treat drug addiction at the end of last year. Another 1,200 are needed to ensure adequate coverage, Bekedam said, adding that 75 percent of those living in China don't understand how AIDS is spread or how to protect themselves.
``China has made 10-fold more money available for HIV/AIDS over the last two to four years,'' he said. ``I'm not saying that's enough, but I do also want to note that in the provinces where we go, many counties have money but they don't know what to do with it.''
To contact the reporter on this story: Dune Lawrence in Beijing at dlawrence6@bloomberg.net
Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=aWjx5pvShIg8
posted by AIDS-Care-Watch at 10:13 am
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