A leading Chinese medical expert has warned that China may have
10 million HIV carriers in 2010 if the government does not take
strong measures to ward off the severe threats to human health
posed by AIDS.
Dai Zhicheng, director of the AIDS Expert Committee with China's
Ministry of Health, made the remarks at an international forum on
sexual disease and prevention held during the weekend in southwest
China's Chongqing Municipality.
"However, if China takes active and effective measures, provides
sufficient medical funding, and sets up a scientific mechanism for
AIDS prevention, then the country will be able to limit its number
of HIV carriers to 1.5 million in 2010," said Dai, also president
of the Chinese Association of Venereal Disease and AIDS
Prevention.
By end June 2005, China had officially reported 126,808 HIV
carriers, including 28,789 with full-blown AIDS, according to
statistics released by China's Ministry of Health.
But the actual number may go far beyond the official report,
medical experts said. They estimated that there were approximately
840,000 HIV carriers in the country, including 80,000 with AIDS,
mainly in rural areas.
China's first case of AIDS came to light in 1985.
Dai believes China is capable of controlling the spread of AIDS,
citing strong support from central government.
"State leaders have paid visits to AIDS patients to show care
for them as well as support for AIDS prevention. And the central
government and local governments across China have spent billions
of yuan on AIDS prevention," he said.
The state leaders Dai mentioned include Chinese President Hu
Jintao, who visited AIDS patients in Beijing's You'an Hospital
on Nov. 30, 2004, shook hands with them and encouraged them to
fight the disease, Premier Wen
Jiabao, who visited Beijing's Ditan Hospital on Dec. 1, 2003,
World AIDS Day, and shook hands and talked with AIDS patients
there, and Vice Premier Wu Yi,
who visited an AIDS-ravaged county in central China's Henan
Province in mid-December 2003.
A working committee was established under the State Council -
China's cabinet - on Feb. 26, 2004 to coordinate AIDS prevention
and control work across the country. Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi was
appointed head of the committee.
To assist AIDS patients, the Chinese government has offered them
various free services, such as free counseling, free testing, free
anti-virus medicine, and free education for orphans of AIDS
patients.
The government has also undertaken to provide livelihood support
for poor AIDS patients.
In recent years, China has made great efforts to promote the use
of condoms to prevent the spread of the disease.
To raise awareness of AIDS prevention, China has made AIDS
education a compulsory course at schools and universities.
In the eyes of Dai, "this (support from the government) is a key
factor in helping China effectively check the rapid spread of
AIDS."
(Xinhua News Agency October 26, 2005)