The public-private alliance in China's eastern Jiangsu province is comprised of nine private sectors, including tourism, machine and garment industry, and represents an innovative opportunity for the Chinese government to support the national HIV/AIDS strategic framework.
"The first thing we did was to conduct a baseline survey on HIV prevention knowledge and attitude towards HIV carriers," says Zhang Zhenfei, deputy director of the Provincial Industry and Commerce Bureau.
Among 1,740 surveyed employees of those private companies, 93.52 percent have heard about AIDS, whereas 40 percent were afraid that they could catch HIV or other venereal diseases.
What seemed disturbing was the lack of sensitivity and discrimination of the workers. Among the polled, 55.3 percent strongly believed HIV carriers should be segregated.
"These figures indicate that education on HIV/AIDS and prevention for workers at private enterprises is lagging behind," says Yang Haitao, deputy director of the provincial center for diseases control.
Fortunately, the nine pilot private enterprises are using their own resources to develop and explore educational models for different working groups.
Jiangsu Langtaosha E-Mass Media Lit. Co. makes use of thousands of their computers to display HIV/AIDS prevention on the desktop. "Users first see the anti-AIDS ad before they get into their accounts," says Zhang Zijian, the company's general technology supervisor.
"Such preaching fashion might sound a bit passive for the time being. But in the long run, the result could be very remarkable," he says. Zhang's company owns a chain of 130 Internet bars throughout Jiangsu Province. Just in Nanjing, the provincial capital, there are 35 such bars, where 25,000 users get online daily.
According to the company's survey, sex workers and migrant workers make a large percentage of those users. "These are two vulnerable groups. If some of them are woken up by our anti-HIV ads, they will tell their friends and families. It's a ripple effect, small and yet powerful," says Zhang.