People are seen during a charity walk on the Juyongguan Pass section of the Great Wall to promote the fight against AIDS. Some 2,000 people including carriers of the HIV/AIDS took part in this event on Sunday to raise funds. [Photo: Xinhua]

More than 2,000 people including carriers of the HIV virus that causes AIDS took part in a charity walk on the Great Wall Sunday to raise 600,000 yuan ($81,000) to help those living with the disease.

The proceeds of the "Great AIDS Walk" in the Juyongguan Pass section in northern Beijing will go to the Sunshine Program for Chinese HIV/AIDS carriers, which will be launched by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the China Red Cross Foundation (CRCF) in next year.

"This is a very important event because it is the work of all of us - the young, the old, government officials, NGOs and other citizens to give the commitment together to fight HIV/AIDS," said Khalid Malik, United Nations resident coordinator on Sunday.

"It's about human rights, the rights that AIDS people should get to live a normal life," he said.

Speaking highly of the anti-AIDS efforts of the Chinese government, Malik said President Hu Jintao has given "great commitment" and "showed his support" for the work to fight AIDS.

"The UNAIDS will set an effective mechanism to supervise the fund used in the right way. I hope the money can be sent directly to those HIV/AIDS sufferers who are in need," Malik told China Daily.

The UNAIDS has invested $50,000 on the Sunshine Program, and about 200,000 yuan ($27,000) were donated by foreign enterprises and private companies.

"The Sunshine Program will be launched mainly in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Yunnan and Henan provinces to give HIV/AIDS patients skills to help them adjust to normal life," Su Juxiang, the vice-president of CRCF, told China Daily Sunday.

"We hope more HIV/AIDS can come out, but it depends on the kind of support and understanding that society affords them," said Su.

Diana Peters, a German who worked for an anti-AIDS NGO in Thailand for three years, said that it was a great idea to encourage AIDS patients to take part in social activities, even if they did so anonymously.

"Stigma and discrimination are potential killers for HIV/AIDS carriers, even in advanced countries. So I am happy to see so many Chinese concern about the life of HIV/AIDS carriers," Peters said.

Shomik Mehndiratta, a transport specialist in the Beijing office of the World Bank, brought his two-year-old son to join in the walk.

"The red ribbon, the symbol of the fight against AIDS, impressed my son. I told him today is an adventure trip signifying love and care," he added.

(China Daily, December 3, 2007)