China's promotion of voluntary HIV counseling and testing has
been welcomed by the World Health Organization (WHO), which said it
was a valuable approach to fighting AIDS.
As one of the activities marking the World AIDS Day which falls
on Friday, the Chinese Ministry of Health has set a "national week
of HIV voluntary counseling and testing" from Dec. 1 to 7.
"Voluntary counseling and testing is an important access for
people to be aware of the disease and hence to seek treatment, who
have been living with HIV but do not know they were infected," said
Dr. Henk Bekedam, WHO's China representative.
People infected with sexually transmitted diseases or
tuberculosis need to be offered HIV counseling and testing by the
hospital, suggested Bekedam in an interview with Xinhua. But the
service should be based on consent of patients and confidentiality
concerns, he noted.
The ministry has been publicizing voluntary counseling and
testing and encouraging people at risk of HIV infection to get the
service. By the end of June, health institutes had tested 871,089
people, and found 9,567 to be HIV positive, according to figures
from the ministry.
Meanwhile, a pilot scheme to prevent mother-to-baby transmission
has been carried out in 271 counties of 28 provinces, and by June
1.02 million pregnant women had been tested and 1,121 were found to
be HIV positive.
Bekedam said the WHO and UNAIDS were working on global
guidelines, which would soon be issued to encourage routine HIV
testing in health care settings.
"The key conditions for this are to ensure that strong
confidentiality assurances are in place and that patients are able
to opt out of getting tested for HIV if they wish," said WHO
spokeswoman in China Joanna Brent.
Another event to mark the World AIDS Day in China is the China
Central Television's broadcast of a foreign documentary on AIDS on
Friday and Saturday, called "A Closer Walk".
Bekedam welcomed this publicity as well, saying it would help
more people know about AIDS and eliminate the social stigma of
those infected.
"The documentary is a very informative program. It states the
importance of providing support and treatment to AIDS patients at
an early stage, highlights the dignity of the patients and tells
the public to respect, rather than fear them," he said.
The Health Ministry reported last week that the number of people
officially reported as HIV infected had risen 27.5 percent since
the beginning of the year, to more than 180,000 at the end of
October. It warned the disease was spreading from high-risk groups
to the general public.
Referring to the latest figures, Bekedam said it was important
to note the pattern of HIV transmission was changing. In the 1990s,
China's main transmission channel was unsafe blood, but today
unprotected sex was the main way, he said.
The ministry revealed that transmission through unprotected sex
had increased, with the infection rate of sex workers rising from
0.02 percent in 1996 to one percent in 2005. Surveys show only 38.7
percent of Chinese sex workers use condoms.
"Therefore the fight against HIV/AIDS needs to continue raising
public awareness, telling people to protect themselves, and
meanwhile promoting condom use among sex workers," said
Bekedam.
He suggested the campaign should be scaled up to cover more
people, and at the meantime ensure the quality of the intervention
programs that have been carried out.
The WHO has assessed some programs conducted in China both by
itself and with the health ministry, including those on drug use
and 100 percent condom promotion, according to the official.
(Xinhua News Agency December 1, 2006)