The State Council, China's cabinet, has set up a top-level
committee to coordinate the country's efforts to prevent and curb
the spread of AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome), official
sources said Thursday.
The organization, known as the AIDS Prevention Committee, is
headed by Vice Premier Wu Yi and involves 23 departments and
institutions of the central government and leading officials in
seven provincial governments.
Addressing the first meeting of the committee, Wu said China
should increase its sense of urgency in its efforts to prevent and
curb the disease across the country.
AIDS has been on the rise in China, and it will have grave
impact on the country's economic and social development and social
stability unless it is brought under control before it is too late,
said the vice premier, who is in charge of the country's Ministry
of Health.
The committee was designed to improve the decisions of the
central government concerning AIDS prevention and treatment, and to
coordinate activities in areas hit hard by the disease, said the
vice premier.
Wu said the committee will mainly be in charge of formulating
major policies and programs regarding AIDS prevention and control.
It will help resolve major issues in the battle against the
disease, and mobilize departments and institutions of the central
and local governments and society as a whole to fight AIDS
effectively.
She said China will continue to implement its policies to offer
free treatment to AIDS victims if they are farmers and to the needy
in urban areas, and to provide free, anonymous blood tests for
people in areas hit by the disease so as to have accurate
information on the epidemic.
The country will continue to offer free education to orphans
whose parents died of AIDS. Costs will be covered by local
governments, said the vice premier.
She said the government will offer free AIDS consultations,
screenings and treatment to pregnant women in state-designated
areas to reduce AIDS transmission from mothers to their babies, and
provide assistance to needy AIDS patients, while helping those
capable of work to find jobs.
Wu vowed to expand the publicity campaign to increase public
awareness of AIDS prevention and control, improve people's
understanding of the disease, and fight prejudice against AIDS
patients and HIV carriers.
China will continue its bid to intervene in the spread of AIDS
by cracking down on prostitution and the use of illegal drugs,
expanding research and international exchange and cooperation and
increasing government funding for AIDS prevention and control
programs.
(Xinhua News Agency February 27, 2004)