Hope for millions

Hope for millions

After years of denying the problem existed, the central
government faces a daunting task in trying to bring HIV and Aids
under control. But, commendably, a start has been made, giving a
glimmer of hope to the uncounted millions of mainland victims.

Until its first campaign in 1998, there was virtually nothing
for the affected to look forward to except physical deterioration
and death. But stronger measures are now necessary, as much
because of corruption as through ignorance of the disease. Health
officials estimate that about 600,000 carry the HIV virus.

But doctors on the spot believe there could be one million in
Henan province alone. There it was spread through infected blood
supplies in the early 1990s when biomedical companies started
collecting blood from impoverished peasants. Plasma was extracted
from the blood and the pooled supply then transfused back to the
donors. With hungry people eager to sell, the lucrative trade
fell prey to corruption. Even when it became obvious that donors
fell sick, unscrupulous cadres and doctors covered up the facts
and went on making money.

Although that has largely been halted, persuading people to
donate blood on a voluntary basis will not be easy. But if the
central authorities can override provincial officials to ensure
that Aids publicity penetrates areas where literacy levels are
low, the goal of cleaning up blood supplies by 2005 may just be
achievable.

Setting up clinics to offer treatment and counseling will
remove some of the discrimination which HIV and Aids victims
experience. It will also alert adults to the danger of
unprotected sex, and drug addicts to the risks of using and
sharing infected needles. Prostitution and drug addiction are the
other main causes of the mainland's HIV problem, but infected
blood is said to have caused 72 percent of cases.

With the backing of mass media, and 100 million yuan annually
poured into prevention and control, China has finally found the
will to face up to the epidemic. But it should support lone
campaigners like Dr. Gao Yaojie, the selfless and brave 74-year-
old gynecologist persecuted and prevented from working by cadres
in Henan. In any other country, the pioneering medic would be
recruited into government service, where her experience and
dedication could be used to full advantage. The more Dr. Gaos
China can find, the faster this epidemic can be brought under
control.

-- South China Morning Post, Hong Kong