April 15, 2004

Awakenings

After avoiding the problem for years China has finally seen the light and started offering free AIDS/HIV tests across the whole country. Ironically it is almost exactly a year since Richard's post on AIDS in China. AIDS is still little-discussed in China, even though there are expected to be 10 million HIV carriers by 2010. Ignorance is rife - recent surveys have shown that 20% of the population have never heard of the disease and 40% do not realise that condoms can help to minimise the risks.

Perhaps China is starting to heed the lessons of others before it is too late.

Posted by Simon at April 15, 2004 12:15 PM | TrackBack
Comments

There's definitely been a breakthrough, and the Chinese leadership has wised up to the issue (though they were kicking and screaming all along the way). Just as with SARS, I believe the deciding factor was the worldwide outcry, led by the WHO and the UN and brought to a crescendo by Bill Clinton and Dr. David Ho. Let's just hope it's not too late.

Posted by: Richard at April 16, 2004 12:36 PM
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