Construction for China's first provincial HIV/AIDS care center
has completed in the suburbs of Kunming, capital of southwest Yunnan Province.
The multi-function center, located 28 km from downtown Kunming,
will begin operation later this year, according to Xu Heping,
deputy director of Yunnan Provincial Bureau of Health.
The center is built jointly by the state and Yunnan Province at
a cost of 140 million yuan (about US$17.5 million). It will have
six specialized departments -- clinical treatment, technical
consulting, research and development, international exchange and
cooperation, clinical treatment training, and psychological
therapy. Neighboring the drug-producing Golden Triangle in
Southeast Asia, Yunnan has become the worst hit by the HIV/AIDS
pandemic in China.
By late 2006, Yunnan had 48,591 known HIV carriers and 3,935
AIDS patients. Many of the victims have got infected through
sharing syringes in drug injection and unsafe sex activities. So
far, the death toll from the disease has reached 1,768 in
Yunnan.
(Xinhua News Agency June 30, 2007)
