BEIJING, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- David Ho, a world renowned AIDS
researcher, became the head of a newly-established AIDS research
center at China's prestigious Tsinghua University on Tuesday.
The Comprehensive AIDS Research Center (CARC), which was set up
four days before the World AIDS Day on Dec. 1, marks Tsinghua's
further involvement in the global fight against AIDS, Ho said at an
inauguration ceremony Tuesday.
Ho said he would lead the center to become one of the world's
foremost institutions in fighting the killer epidemic.
"We will encourage academic innovation, pursue excellence and
dedicate ourselves to the battle against AIDS," he said.
The center will engage in research in AIDS-related epidemiology,
diagnosis, pathology, anti-AIDS medication and vaccine
development.
It will also carry out research on AIDS-related public policy,
public awareness campaigns, and legal and ethical issues.
The institution was jointly established by Tsinghua's School of
Humanities and Social Sciences, School of Journalism and
Communication and School of Medicine. It also incorporated a policy
research center which was established by the School of Humanities
and Social Sciences.
David Da-i Ho, 55, is a Taiwan-born American. He was named "Man
of the Year" by Time magazine in 1996 for his leadership
in developing a therapeutic cocktail of protease inhibitors for HIV
carriers in the earliest stage of infection.
The treatment remains one of the most effective ways to control
HIV and slow down the speed at which HIV carriers fall ill.
Statistics show that China had 183,733 officially registered
HIV/AIDS cases as of Oct. 31, 2006, but experts from the Ministry
of Health and international organizations estimate as many as
650,000 Chinese people were living with the virus and the number
could only rise.
Chinese capital Beijing registered 973 new HIV/AIDS cases in the
ten months this year, a jump of more than 50 percent over the same
period last year.
(Xinhua News Agency, November 28, 2007)