PRNewswire - November 30, 2004

-- Partners Will Host Receptions in Washington, DC, Nov. 30th and Shanxi Province, China, on December 1st

WASHINGTON, Nov. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- The China Foundation and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), two respected international non-profit organizations, have set up a pilot project for HIV testing, AIDS treatment and training of healthcare professionals in Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province, China, where blood selling of villagers and farmers led to widespread HIV infections and increased number of AIDS cases. The two organizations partnering in this new testing, treatment and training venture will host receptions in Washington, DC, on Tuesday November 30 (United States Capitol Building, Room 120 from 12noon-2:30pm) and in Shanxi Province, China, on Wednesday, December 1st -- World AIDS Day.

Earlier this fall, officials from both AHF and the China Foundation visited Beijing and Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province, and talked to the Chinese government officials and AIDS patients. At the present time, the HIV/AIDS epidemic in China is concentrated in high-risk groups including blood sellers (who have become infected via dirty and/or re-used needles), drug users and sex workers. The China Cares National Plan is providing AIDS drugs to counties with severe HIV/AIDS epidemic and the AIDS patients in China expressed hope.

"With active health education, HIV testing and counseling, effective AIDS treatment and training of Chinese health professionals, we believe that HIV/AIDS in China can begin to be controlled and contained and that we may help break the chain of infection," said Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation. "We look forward to collaborating with the China Foundation and our other partners on this important project in the fight against AIDS in China."

"The China Foundation and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation have already signed official Memoranda of Cooperation, and we shall launch our project in partnership with the Ministry of Health and the World Bank represented by the Foreign Loan Office/Ministry of Health, China CDC, USCDC/China, Shanxi Provincial Health Bureau and Yuncheng City Health Bureau," said Jane Hu, Chairman and CEO of the China Foundation, who helped spearhead the partnership. "We look forward to a working together with these partners on this testing, treatment and training for the betterment of all China's at-risk populations."

"AHF Global Immunity is honored to join forces with such forward-thinking leaders as those at the China Foundation to implement appropriate and relevant medical care and support services to those living with HIV/AIDS in China," said Henry Chang, Executive Director, AHF Global Immunity. "It is our hope that this partnership serves as a model system to control the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Yuncheng City and also as a model system to be expanded to other provinces of China."

In October 2001, The Guangzhou Daily, a Chinese state newspaper, "... made the 'unusual' move of reporting that 118 people in the northern city of Yuncheng in the Shanxi province have contracted HIV through selling their blood, the Associated Press reported." According to a Kaiser Family Foundation's Daily HIV/AIDS Report at the time, "these newly reported cases account for half of the province's confirmed infections." KFF's Daily Report also noted, "Most of the infected people in Yuncheng acquired HIV while selling their blood, while a few contracted the virus through un-sterilized needles. An estimated 600,000 Chinese are HIV-positive, and the United Nations says that figure could rise to 20 million by 2010 if public education campaigns and further measures to restrict the blood trade are not enacted (Associated Press, 10/11/01 via KFF's Daily HIV/AIDS Report)."

For information on this reception and event, please contact Tom Myers, AHF General Counsel at (323) 860-5259. For information on AIDS Healthcare Foundation, please contact Ged Kenslea, AHF Communications Director at (323) 860-5225, via email: gedk@aidshealth.org or visit AIDS Healthcare Foundation's website: http://www.aidshealth.org.

SOURCE AIDS Healthcare Foundation

Web Site: http://www.aidshealth.org

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PR041154

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