China's arduous war against the HIV/AIDS plague gained a powerful new advocate when the State Administration of Industry and Commerce (SAIC) integrated an HIV prevention message into its routine duties.
SAIC is the government organization responsible for the supervision of markets and the enforcement of administrative laws for industry and commerce in the country.
Early last year, and with support from the China-U.K. project China AIDS Roadmap Tactical Support (CHARTS), SAIC began training the heads of its private economy and advertising sections across China.
To date, 250 chiefs have been trained on HIV prevention skills, policies and regulations. "These trained officials can educate local people, particularly migrant workers, after they go back to their work places," says Song Shaozhe, a researcher with SAIC's department for private economy supervision and management.
Previously, HIV/AIDS prevention had been thought of as the responsibility of the health department.
"SAIC's commitment to an anti-AIDS battle is significant, socially and politically. This further highlights the Chinese government's determination to win the fight," says Shi Kai, a CHARTS project officer.
The three year CHARTS project that started in 2005 was aimed to strengthen China's strategic capacity to deliver an effective and coordinated response to HIV/AIDS through capacity building, supporting policy and providing training for government officials.
SAIC also urged provincial industry and commerce bureaus to collaborate with private companies to expand efforts that promoted HIV/AIDS prevention services for migrant workers.
It is also launching an education program on HIV/AIDS prevention for migrant workers in five pilot provinces, including Jiangsu, Guangdong and Fujian, home to most of China's private garment factories and IT plants.
The spread of HIV/AIDS in the country is moving from the conventional high-risk groups to the general public, a large number of whom are migrant workers working in private enterprises.
National Statistics Bureau figures show there are more than 200million rural migrant workers in manufacturing centers.
Song, head of SAIC's education program, said, "Our mission is to find a way to deliver HIV/AIDS prevention messages effectively to migrant workers. They lack awareness of self-protection and the ignorance may pose a threat to public health."