Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
The New York Times - May 10, 2004
Jim Yardley
"Those officials breaching duty or hiding epidemic reports will be severely punished," stated a 12-page circular from the State Council, China's cabinet. The official New China News Agency released the circular on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Wu Yi, a deputy prime minister and the government's point person in fighting AIDS, cautioned that China was at a crucial stage because the disease might soon jump from high-risk groups like prostitutes and intravenous drug users into the general population.
Ms. Wu, who oversees the Health Ministry, called for a crackdown on prostitution and the kind of illegal blood sales that led to an outbreak of AIDS in rural central China. She also said condom use and clean needle exchanges for drug users should be encouraged. Her comments, publicized in the state media on Sunday, came in a speech last month.
If China fails to improve its response to the disease, Ms. Wu cautioned, "The consequences will be very grievous." Experts have predicted that China could have as many as 10 million AIDS patients by 2010 if the government fails to adequately fight the disease.
Government statistics estimate that 840,000 people in China are H.I.V. carriers, while 80,000 more have tested positive for AIDS. More than 100,000 people are already believed to have died of the disease. The new announcement noted that AIDS was in every province and region of China.
The announcement is the latest effort by the Chinese government to confront a disease whose spread officials once actively sought to conceal. In the past year, China has introduced a limited program providing some free drugs to AIDS patients and begun a public relations campaign to reduce the stigma associated with the disease and encourage testing.
A central focus of the State Council pamphlet was improving education, particularly in rural areas, state news agencies reported. AIDS education will be included in the curriculums of the country's middle schools, vocational schools and colleges. AIDS prevention posters should be displayed at public "entertainment venues," according to the pamphlet. Already, posters and billboards with such messages are on display in major cities like Beijing.
Medical workers, the circular stated, will also be charged with discussing AIDS prevention with patients and encouraging condom use to protect against the disease. Pregnant women will be given free treatment to protect against mother-to-child H.I.V. transmission.
The instruction that local officials would be held accountable for fighting the disease comes after officials in places like Henan Province once arrested journalists and others who sought to expose the spread of the disease. The circular ordered local governments in areas hard hit by the disease to establish AIDS prevention and treatment working committees.
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