China and the United States signed a Memorandum of Understanding
Friday in Washington to deepen and expand cooperation on HIV/AIDS
prevention and research.
The agreement, signed by visiting Chinese Minister of Health Zhang
Wenkang and his US counterpart, Secretary of Health and Human
Services Tommy Thompson, provides another example that the two
countries can work together constructively.
It
"proves that cooperation in the health area has occupied more and
more important position in the overall relationship between our two
countries," said Zhang Wenkang at the signing ceremony.
"Our constructive relationship can also further promote our
partnership in the health area," he added.
The Memorandum of Understanding calls for increased collaboration
in the development of effective intervention strategies to prevent
HIV transmission, including new strategies to enhance blood safety
and reduce HIV transmission in health care settings.
In
addition, the US and China will increase efforts to improve
HIV/AIDS epidemiology and surveillance in China, and will provide
additional opportunities for training and exchange of scientists
and health care professionals.
Also during the signing ceremony, the two health ministers
announced two new initiatives that will complement the goals of the
agreement.
The US Department of Health and Human Services said it will assign
two personnel to the Chinese Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention to provide the local government with assistance in
responding to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
And the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has decided to award
a US$14.8 million, five-year plan to the Chinese Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention to expand China's research
activities in HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and vaccine
development, in cooperation with experts from US universities and
medical schools.
The grant is part of NIH's Comprehensive International Program of
Research on AIDS (CIPRA), and is the first multi-project CIPRA
awarded.
"China is the first country to receive this type of grant from
NIH," Secretary Thompson said.
(
June 29, 2002)