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China bids to cap HIV/AIDS cases

Shanghai Daily, March 1, 2012

• China is aiming to keep the number of people living with HIV/AIDS to within 1.2 million by 2015, up from the current estimate of 780,000, through enhanced education and the increased availability and use of condoms.

  The real-name HIV testing recently adopted in China has drawn great public attention.

  In its AIDS Action Plan published yesterday, the State Council urges comprehensive intervention throughout the country to prevent HIV/AIDS infection through sexual intercourse, the most common transmission channel in China.

  As part of the plan, the government aims to make condoms or condom vending machines available in 95 percent of hotels and other public places by 2015, and ensure that more than 90 percent of people indulging in high-risk behavior use condoms.

  The government acknowledges that controlling HIV/AIDS is a challenging task. On its website site it says: "The present spread of AIDS is still severe, there is widespread discrimination in society, the virus is a serious problem in some areas and among high-risk groups.

  "The situation is becoming more complex and prevention work is extremely difficult."

  Infection rates through sexual intercourse are rising, infection between mother and child still remained high and resistance to anti-AIDS drugs imposed difficulties in HIV/AIDS treatment, it said.

  The action plan calls for extending testing for the HIV virus and early intervention to prevent infection. The plan also asks governments at all levels to designate public places where condoms or condom vending machines can be made available.

  In Shanghai, the city's Population and Family Planning Commission said there were some 18,000 sites offering condoms either for sale or free but said more convenient access to condoms and birth control and disease prevention knowledge would be available.

  The Hilton Shanghai Hongqiao hotel said yesterday that it offers a sales hotline for condoms at its service center and staff can provide condoms for guests within 10 minutes of a request. A staff member said condoms were among the most popular products on its bar menu.

  China had 346,000 registered HIV carriers and AIDS patients by the end of last year but health authorities estimate that the true figure is around 780,000 people, reflecting the fact that a large number of cases were not being detected.

  About 28,000 people died of AIDS in China in 2011, and another 48,000 were newly infected by the HIV virus. Official studies showed that the number of AIDS patients in China had risen from 75,000 in 2005 to last year's 154,000.

  Under the government's plan, it envisages a drop in new HIV/AIDS cases by 25 percent by 2015 and a reduction in AIDS mortality by 30 percent.

  The plan also aims to reduce the number of intravenous drug users who share needles by 15 percent. Effective intervention and treatment should cover more than 90 percent of the high-risk population by 2015, the plan states.

  The plan also calls for increased health education throughout the country and for less social discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS.

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