More media coverage is being paid to the HIV/AIDS situation in China, especially after a gathering of leading officials, scientists, medical workers and activists in the field occurred in Beijing on November 10. By official estimates, China has 840,000 people carrying HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and about 80,000 AIDS patients. Despite the fairly large groups of HIV carriers and AIDS patients, the epidemic is mostly confined to high-risk groups, such as drug users, prostitutes and users of blood products.

　　And it has yet to spread widely in the rest of the nation. The Chinese Government is well aware of such perspectives, and the central and local governments have allocated 6.8 billion yuan (US$822 billion) to establish and improve disease prevention and control mechanisms in provinces. Each year a special fund of more than 200 million yuan (US$24 million) is channeled into HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment. Since April, free medicine to poor AIDS patients has been delivered in regions hit hardest by the virus. Just as the impacts of AIDS reaches social and economic fields of society, effective prevention also requires united efforts from virtually all sectors. Key factors needed include public education, affordable drugs, medical training for healthcare workers in hospitals and the public health system, monitoring and evaluation, care for orphans, measures to stop mother-to-child transmission, a comprehensive care framework and research into vaccines and a cure.

　　None of these things can be achieved with the single hand of any institution — not health officials, not medical workers or the government. The fight against HIV/AIDS requires the participation of as many parties as possible. As former US President Bill Clinton said as a co-chair of the advisory board of International AIDS Trust, the AIDS problem is “manageable and preventable” though we must wage it on all fronts with tenuous determination, utmost patience and tactful skills.

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