Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2001. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2001. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Reuters NewMedia - Monday November 5, 2001
The site's archives suggest it was established around three years ago, but the state-run Xinhua news agency said on Monday it was launched ahead of World AIDS Day on December 1.
The publicity also precedes a China AIDS/Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD) conference due to be held in Beijing on November 13 to 16, described by officials as China's first.
On the site, Xiao responds to a wide range of questions on basic issues like the general symptoms of HIV and more complex ones like suitable medicines for confirmed sufferers.
In one anonymous message, a person admits to committing "highly dangerous acts"--in Chinese, typically meaning visits to prostitutes--and deep fears that he has contracted HIV despite testing negative six times.
"From my own analysis of my unidentifiable symptoms in the last six months, I cannot think of any reason other than HIV so I want to ask everyone if you have had the same symptoms," the person wrote on a public message board along with a lengthy description of symptoms.
SLOW PROGRESS
China is making slow progress in dealing with the disease still considered a taboo and has acknowledged that large swathes of the population know alarmingly little about it.
In a rare admission of the problem, the government said in August that reported HIV infections had surged 67.4% year on year to 3,541 in the first half of 2001. Intravenous drug use accounted for 69.8% of those cases, heterosexual contact for 6.9% and 21% were due to unknown reasons, Xinhua news agency has said previously. The government does not publish statistics related to homosexuality.
The number of confirmed HIV/AIDS cases at the end of September was 28,133, although the number of HIV-positive people was estimated to be above 600,000, Xinhua said on Monday.
The number of reported cases is relatively small--the real figure may be much higher--and experts say social and economic changes and a sharp increase in sexually transmitted diseases suggests the potential for more sex-related cases.
The UN says China could have 10 million persons with HIV/AIDS by 2010 unless it acts decisively.
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