Global Fund's AIDS Care China Program began operations on Wednesday in Central China's Hubei Province, aiming to offer prevention, treatment and care to local HIV carriers and AIDS patients.

This is the largest internationally-co-operative program on AIDS prevention in the province, covering 12 demonstration districts at State and provincial levels, said Sun Changsong, director of the care program team.

The epidemic, said Sun, is especially serious in the targeted areas, where HIV carriers, AIDS patients, and AIDS-related deaths account for more than 70 per cent of the province's total.

In the first two years of the five-year co-operative period, the province will get US$5 million from the program, said Sun.

(China Daily October 2, 2004)