Over 100 AIDS experts, foreign embassy officials in China, and
representatives from various international organizations recently
gathered in Beijing to discuss how to control AIDS in China.
The rapid spread and high cost of treating AIDS endangers the lives
of many, mainly young and middle-aged people, placing a heavy
burden on the social and economic development of a country.
AIDS is the only illness which the UN has held Special Assembly
sessions for, and which the UN General Secretary has advanced
discussions on in UNSC. It is also the only illness for which the
World Health Organization has set up a dedicate institution to deal
with problems the disease poses to development in the new
century.
Although some medicines have been developed which can reduce levels
of HIV in the body, the prohibitive cost of such treatments prevent
their wide spread use, especially in developing countries where
they are most needed.
In
China, for example, the number of reported HIV carriers had risen
to 30,736 by 2001. Calculating the cost of treatment, on the basis
of between 110,000 yuan (US$13,274) to 130,000 yuan (US$15,688) per
person, the total annual cost to the Chinese government would be
somewhere in the region of 4 billion yuan (US$482.7 million). But
some experts estimate that the real rate of infection may be as
high as 850,000 by the end of last year, pushing costs up to 109.2
billion yuan (US$13.178 billion).
Vice Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Long Yongtu
said, "AIDS is not only a health problem, but also an issue that
seriously affects economic, social and cultural development, and
therefore demands the highest level of attention from all sectors
in society."
The Chinese has raised its annual fund for AIDS prevention from 15
million yuan (US$1.81 million) to 100 million yuan (about US$12
million), and issued 1.25 billion yuan (US$151 million) in treasury
bonds to build and restore 459 blood banks, but even these measures
may still not be enough to satisfy the needs of the country.
More examination posts need to be built, especially in remote
regions, to monitor the true situation of the AIDS epidemic. The
government must apportion more funds to improve blood-screening
procedures to prevent the spread of HIV through blood transfusions,
and reduce the costs of treatments that are currently deterring
poor patients from seeking medical assistance.
There are a mere 200 patients who can presently afford the cost of
AIDS treatments, and the country can only provide assistance for
just several thousands of its people.
The average person, especially in rural areas, lacks even the most
basic awareness of the disease, with drug addicts, prostitutes and
gays groups experiencing highest rates of infection. Some 20 to 30
percent intravenous drug-users are suspected of carrying HIV. China
needs to launch educational campaigns to raise the public's
awareness of the virus.
Siri Tellier, deputy head of the Joint United Nations Program on
HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), recounted the experiences of other countries at
the conference. She said, "Promoting public awareness of the
disease through AIDS information campaigns is an effective and
efficient way to prevent and control the spread of the virus.
Uganda, in African, suffered heavily from AIDS with the average
life expectancy falling by 5 years in 1990. After targeted
educational campaigns, the life expectancy of the average Ugandan
has been on the rise since 1995, according to her.
(china.org.cn by Feng Yikun, September 24, 2002)