UNICEF, Chinese Government Launch Program To Combat HIV/AIDS in Rural Provinces
UNICEF and China's ministries of health, justice and public security, and its Center for Disease Control on Monday launched an HIV/AIDS awareness project aimed at young people in rural China, Xinhua News Agency reports. The "AIDS Prevention and Care Cooperation Project" was unveiled in Yinchuan, the capital of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. Ningxia government officials have already "mapped out" an action plan for combating the disease as part of the program. In addition, the Jilin, Henan, Guizhou, Jiangxi, Liaoning and Hunan provinces and the Chongqing Municipality have joined the program, Xinhua reports. UNICEF statistics on HIV/AIDS show that most HIV-positive people in China live in rural areas, and more than half of them are between the ages of 20 and 29, according to Xinhua. Dr. Christian Voumard, UNICEF's China branch representative, said that although the HIV prevalence rate among Chinese adults was only 0.11%, the number of HIV/AIDS cases in China "had been rising quickly," according to Xinhua. The Ningxia region has reported a total of 19 HIV cases since the first case was reported in 1994. Voumard said that there is an "urgent need" to educate more Chinese people about the disease and to "give more care and respect" to HIV/AIDS patients, according to Xinhua (Xinhua News Agency, 3/17). The Chinese government reports that one million people are HIV-positive, but outside experts estimate that the number is higher and warn that 10 million Chinese could be HIV-positive by 2010 (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 1/14).
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