Companies, especially State-owned enterprises (SOEs) need to
play a more active role in curbing the increase of HIV/AIDS cases,
says a top AIDS expert and NGO head.
Wu Zunyou, director of the National Center for AIDS/STD Control
and Prevention, said companies that are doing business in China
could exert substantial influence in helping to combat the
disease.
"Besides educating their employees to limit any high-risk
behavior to reduce their chance of infection, companies could
contribute money towards helping to raise AIDS orphans and play an
active role in reducing discrimination towards AIDS patients," he
said.
It only costs 1,500 yuan (US$183) annually to feed an orphan, he
said.
A project helping AIDS-affected orphans improve their living
conditions was launched on Wednesday in Beijing, thanks to a
donation from the TNT group, a Fortune 500 company.
Also an express delivery, logistics and postal company based in
Amsterdam, Holland, has promised to donate US$360,000 to set-up a
special fund for AIDS-affected orphans.
Cooperating with the China Youth
Development Foundation, the "Warm the World" project will use
funds to pay for AIDS orphans' tuition and living expenses in
primary and junior high schools.
At least 600 AIDS orphans in Dehong of
Yunnan Province will be the first beneficiaries of the
funds.
Speaking at a workshop on dealing with HIV/AIDS in China,
Michael Shiu, director of the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS
(GBC) said that NGOs are trying to include more large-scale SOEs in
China, as a way to curb HIV/AIDS cases.
He said they are trying to get SOEs more involved in projects
aimed at bringing down infection rates of the disease.
Formed in the UK in 1997, GBC now has a membership of more than
200, mainly international companies, and is leading the business
fight against the AIDS epidemic, while encouraging more businesses
to get involved.
Some positive changes are taking place, observed Constance
Thomas, director of the China Office of the International Labor
Organization.
A regulation on HIV/AIDS Control and Prevention, which became
effective in March this year, clearly banned discrimination against
HIV carriers, AIDS patients or their families and encouraged
donations and participation in HIV/AIDS prevention and control.
"I am happy China is speaking up now about this issue," she
said.?
The US Department of Labor signed an agreement last week with
the Ministry of Labor and Social Security in China to launch a
US$3.5 million program to deal exclusively with educating employees
in Chinese enterprises about knowledge of HIV/AIDS.?
(China Daily March 31, 2006)