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26 August 2001 China has acknowledged that unless urgent action is taken soon, an estimated 10 million people will have been infected by the HIV/AIDS virus by 2010. It's an issue that has been taken up the Chinese Red Cross which is working on HIV/AIDS programmes - one of which was visited recently by International Federation Secretary General, Didier Cherpitel. The peer education project in Xinjiang province run by the Chinese Red Cross with support from the Australian Red Cross, focuses on HIV/AIDS prevention work with ethnic minorities, particularly among the youth and sex workers who are especially at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS. With the Ministry of Health estimating that 600,000 people are already carrying the virus and the rate of infection increasing by 30 per cent annually, education campaigns are vital if China is to contain an HIV/AIDS epidemic. The rate of infection was chief among Didier Cherpitel's concerns as he visited the project in Xinjiang. The Secretary General identified the fight against the spread of the disease as one of the main priorities of the Federation. He recognised the need for more determined action in China and praised the pioneer work of the present project in Xinjiang. Cherpitel also stressed the importance of training HIV/AIDS workers as well as improving dissemination tools promoting healthy lifestyles among young people. Accentuating the human aspect of the epidemic, he noted that it was important that "polices are developed to address the safeguarding of the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS as well as community care. There is an immediate need to apply these policies to all aspects of society to avoid the stigma associated with people living with the disease." In China much of the work on HIV/AIDS is currently being done by the Red Cross. The Chinese Red Cross together with the Australian Red Cross, also have a project in Yunnan. Both programmes train people already infected to become community educators. The success of these programmes has led to additional ones being implemented in Guangxi, Hainan, Fujian and Jilin provinces with plans to expand HIV/AIDS prevention activities to remaining provinces. These programmes have the support of the Chinese government which in 1994, signed the Paris Declaration at the International AIDS Summit. Since then much progress has been made with regard to updating national policies and laws that relate to the disease. This week the government announced it would spend about 12 million US dollars annually for AIDS prevention and control as well as more than 117 million US dollars this year to improve blood safety. It is widely reported that HIV in China is being spread through the sharing of contaminated needles among injecting drug users and through unsafe blood practices. However, more recent reports also point to sexual transmission. A widespread lack of knowledge about the disease, the lack of means for protection as well as large numbers of migrating populations, is fuelling the epidemic. Cherpitel expressed the hope and belief that the efforts of the Chinese Red Cross would strongly contribute to the fight against the disease. "It is very encouraging to see that the Red Cross Society of China is increasingly addressing the growing problem of HIV/AIDS in the country. Its commitment together with the co-operation of the Australian Red Cross, gives a very strong reason for optimism. By joining our efforts within the Federation, I believe we will be able to prevent a large scale humanitarian disaster resulting from the spread of HIV/AIDS in China," he said. More news and report from China Volunteering Make a donation |
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