China

China, Africa to join hands in AIDS combat drive

By Kelly Chung Dawson and Zhang Yuwei (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-09-23 17:15

NEW YORK - Premier Wen Jiabao on Wednesday announced the setting up of an Africa-China partnership aimed at better strengthening international AIDS prevention and treatment efforts.

Wen made the announcement at a high-level meeting with leaders from African nations, including Nigeria, Ethiopia and South Africa.

Wen stressed the urgency of ramping up efforts in the remaining five years before the stated 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) target, saying 13 million people worldwide were living with HIV at present.

"We cannot turn a deaf ear," Wen said at the gathering of leaders. "We should redouble our efforts to advance the global campaign against HIV/AIDS, and ensure that the related MDGs are met on schedule."

Emphasizing "synergy" and cooperative endeavors, various leaders spoke about improvements that have occurred worldwide, but also listed sobering statistics that underscored the importance of renewing efforts against the spread of HIV/AIDS.

"To fight HIV/AIDS is the common responsibility of mankind," Wen said. "The international community needs to foster a spirit of solidarity and assistance, and intensify cooperation and AIDS control. Developed countries should honor their commitments and provide technical and financial assistance, and developing countries should draw upon (the experiences of) developed countries."

The World Health Organization plans to step up coordination and mobilize resources in the fight, and countries including Senegal, Namibia, Togo and Kenya have all reaffirmed their commitments to tackle Goal 6, which relates to combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.

"The era of health and development programs operating in isolation is over," said Michel Sidibe, UNAIDS executive director. "We have to work together to make this one movement. The Africa-China partnership can be the engine that accelerates progress towards the MDGs."

Wen assured the assembly that China viewed the AIDS cause as high priority. "The Chinese government attaches great importance to AIDS prevention and treatment," he said. "It's been a tough, protracted battle."

According to UNAIDS statistics, an estimated 700,000 Chinese have HIV, with 85,000 suffering from full-blown AIDS. Approximately, 50,000 new infections and 20,000 deaths were reported in 2007 alone.

While China has made notable progress in MDG Goal 1 on poverty reduction, "the only MDG where China seems to be having any problem is with Goal 6," Sidibe said in an interview with China Daily.

Among the major challenges China faces are lack of information, growing instance of AIDS in the homosexual community, and mother-to-child transmissions.

Ilana Berger of Health GAP, an AIDS-awareness NGO, pointed to findings by the China Stigma Index, a 2009 study which had revealed that knowledge about AIDS in the country was often poor, and that many HIV-positive Chinese still experienced significant discrimination, both in society and at the hands of service providers.

Despite these obstacles, Wen said he was confident China would meet the MDG on AIDS by 2015. He listed dropping mortality rates and various government-led initiatives, including two five-year action plans, a change in policy toward blood transfusions, a jump in government AIDS funding within China to 6.2 billion yuan this year and a planned contribution of $14 million to the international community over the next three years.

The government is also working to provide free voluntary testing and consulting, free schooling for children orphaned by the death of their guardians due to AIDS, and free medication for ever more patients.

Sidibe cited major moves in the last decade that have seen AIDS prevention in China jump from virtually zero to being the largest harm-reduction program in Asia.

China is also taking a proactive attitude toward the homosexual community by identifying gay meeting places and distributing information and condoms, he said.

"China is developing new strategies in this area," Sidibe said.

"Instead of criminalizing activity that might push the gay population underground, China is doing the opposite by targeting hot spot areas and making information and protection available. This is very interesting."

At the panel, Wen and other leaders spoke about the importance of viewing AIDS as interconnected with the other Millennium Development Goals, including poverty, maternal health and gender inequality.

UN Deputy Secretary General Asha-Rose Migiro listed the benefits of AIDS prevention and treatment as including poverty reduction and lower rates of student dropouts.

Improving AIDS rates would also reduce both child and maternal mortality, Sidibe said. Swaziland currently suffers from 75 percent maternal mortality, and 400,000 babies are born with AIDS each year in Africa, according to UNAIDS statistics.

AIDS can also be linked to sexual violence, gender inequality, unwanted births and unsafe abortions.

China Daily