A local official in the southern province of Guangdong
said Tuesday that a month-long program offering gay men free and
confidential HIV tests began on May 10 and is planned to be
repeated on an annual basis.
Jin Jianxing, a Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control
official, told China Daily that confidentiality is a
priority and that test results would not be passed on to anyone
else.
Until June 10, gay men based in Guangdong can send anonymous
blood samples by mail to the center's AIDS Prevention and Treatment
Institute and can even receive test results online if they prefer.
Alternatively, they may attend the center in person to talk to
doctors face-to-face.
The move is aimed at helping the province study and research the
spread of HIV/AIDS among its gay population in order to better
inform initiatives to reduce it.
The center is also offering free examinations and tests for
hepatitis, syphilis and other sexually transmitted infections for
gay men during the one-month period, said Jin.
Local authorities are planning to establish an AIDS working
committee by the end of the year to keep track of all people with
HIV/AIDS in the province. It will seek international cooperation
and overseas financial support over the next few years.
The total number of people in Guangdong known to have AIDS was
5,051 at the end of last year, but Jin estimated that as many as
30,000 may have HIV/AIDS in all.
Last year alone, 191 people were newly diagnosed as HIV positive
in the province, and the total is expected to increase.
Guangdong now has the fourth largest number of registered people
with HIV/AIDS in China, after Yunnan
Province, Xinjiang
Uygur Autonomous Region and Guangxi
Zhuang Autonomous Region.
(China Daily May 18, 2005)