Global Fund's AIDS Care China Program began operations Wednesday
in central China's Hubei
Province, aiming to offer prevention, treatment and care to
local HIV carriers and AIDS patients.
This is the largest internationally-cooperative program on AIDS
prevention in the province, covering 12 demonstration districts at
state and provincial levels, said Sun Changsong, director of the
Care Program team.
According to Sun, the epidemic is especially serious in the
targeted areas, where HIV carriers, AIDS patients, and AIDS-related
deaths all account for more than 70 percent of the province's
total.
In the first two years of the five-year cooperative period, the
province will get US$5 million from the program, Sun said.
The Global Fund's AIDS Care Program was advocated by UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 2001 and is financially supported
by the developed countries, including the United States.
So far, China's 58 poverty-stricken counties scattered in seven
provinces have benefited from the global program.
(Xinhua News Agency October 2, 2004)