A US$9.8 million project co-sponsored by the British Department for International Development (BDID) and the Norwegian government has been launched in Xinjiang to help the northwestern Uygur Autonomous Region prevent HIV/AIDS.

The policy support project for HIV/AIDS is aimed at helping China enhance the ability to develop health policies and build an efficient and equitable system to prevent HIV infection, said a project manager of BDID, an agency of the British government responsible for helping developing countries eliminate extreme poverty.

Designed by the Chinese government, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS and BDID, the three-year project has received 5 million British pounds from BDID, 6 million Swiss francs from the Norwegian government and 3 million Australian dollars from the Australian government.

Xinjiang had reported 11,303 HIV infected cases by the end of September but health authorities estimate at least 60,000 people are HIV carriers in the region.

Prior to Xinjiang, the project had been launched in the central provinces of Hunan and Hubei.

(Xinhua News Agency November 4, 2005)