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More awareness, investment urged in AIDS fight
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-04-09 11:42

A senior Chinese health official said here Thursday that local officials' low awareness of AIDS might hinder China's overall efforts against the fatal disease.

"Despite high awareness of the central government, some local officials still cannot understand the threat of AIDS," said Vice Health Minister Wang Longde Thursday.

"Some may worry that publicizing the AIDS epidemic will affect the local investment environment and economic growth, and others may think AIDS is still no threat to them," Wang said.

China reported the first HIV positive case in 1985, and nine years later, the number of people infected with HIV is estimated at 840,000.

In the fight against AIDS, insufficient investment is another problem though the government has been increasing financial input in AIDS prevention and treatment in recent years, Wang said.

The central government allocated 100 million yuan (US$12 million) for AIDS prevention in 2001, and the figure reached 390 million yuan last year. Another 2.5 billion yuan has been invested to improve the construction of public blood banks in central and western China to prevent the disease being transmitted through blood collection and transfusion.

"However, the investment still lags far behind demand," Wang said. Currently over 7,000 AIDS patients on the Chinese mainland are having free anti-retroviral treatment provided by the government, which costs tens of million yuan every year.

"If we take education, publicity, testing and healthcare into consideration, the amount of money needed is even more shocking," he said.

To solve the problems, the State Council, or the cabinet, set up an inter-departmental committee two months ago to coordinate efforts and resources. The committee involves representatives from 23 ministries and government offices, and seven provinces.

Wang said the Health Ministry, as a key member in China's fight against AIDS, will try its utmost to mobilize resources from all social sectors and to improve the lives of HIV and AIDS patients.

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