United Press International - June 9, 2005
Ed Lanfranco

Randall Tobias, Washington's top diplomat in the war against HIV/AIDS, has begun a three-day trip to Yunnan province in southwest China to gain perspective on the progress and problems China faces in its response to the spreading disease.

Tobias, the Bush administration's global AIDS coordinator, is traveling with Dr. Peter Piot, executive director of the Joint United Nations Program on AIDS, also known as UNAIDS. The U.S. and U.N. representatives will travel to Yunnan's capital Kunming and the city of Gejiu, meeting with provincial government and city leaders. They also plan visits to projects focused on prevention among high-risk groups, according to a statement released by the UNAIDS China office in Beijing.

Yunnan is on the frontline of the disease's spread, mostly by intravenous drug users. It borders Laos and Myanmar (Burma), two of the countries that along with Thailand constitute the Golden Triangle infamous for its production of heroin poppies.

In late May the National Narcotics Control Commission announced the start of a new campaign against drugs. The organization -- China's equivalent of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration -- released figures suggesting over 81 percent of the substance-abuse problem in the country involved heroin. Police seized 10,836 kilograms of the drug in 2004.

According to some estimates, approximately 45 percent of the HIV/AIDS cases in China are a result of shared needles by drug users. Another 30 percent resulted from sexual encounters, with tainted blood products contributing the remaining 25 percent.

Prior to his departure for Yunnan, Tobias pursued a whirlwind schedule of events in the Chinese capital to push forward the administration's international health policy on HIV/AIDS. China, along with Russia and India, is among the places a U.S. National Security Council report termed "second wave countries" at risk in the global epidemic.

Health experts have long warned that the Chinese government underestimated the magnitude of HIV in the country and followed a dangerous policy of denial and lack of a strategy to deal with the problem.

Since late 2003 China has been using an official figure of 840,000 people infected with the human immunodeficiency virus -- the organism that causes AIDS -- including 80,000 who have developed the full-blown disease. The real number is feared to be much higher, and China could have 10 million cases by 2010 unless the government adopts stronger measures.

Tobias and Piot said they plan to raise critical issues, including ways to raise HIV/AIDS awareness, to improve monitoring and evaluating official responses to the disease and to eliminate the stigma and discrimination sufferers face.

They also underlined expanded HIV testing and counseling as paramount goals both in treatment and in prevention.

To illustrate the importance of testing, Tobias and Pu Cunxin, an actor and AIDS spokesman working with the Chinese government, had themselves publicly tested for HIV/AIDS at a news conference in Beijing Tuesday.

"The United States will continue to support China's efforts in our shared fight against HIV/AIDS," Tobias told reporters. "This visit and the opportunity I've had to meet with Chinese officials helps to ensure U.S. support is consistent with China's HIV/AIDS goals and objectives."

Tobias also met with the Chinese State Council Working Group on AIDS -- a Cabinet-level organization -- to find ways to enhance their bilateral partnership.

Together with Clark Randt, the U.S. ambassador to China, Tobias helped launch the first U.S. government conference on HIV/AIDS in the country. They also visited the You'an Hospital in Beijing, considered the Chinese Ministry of Health's flagship facility for people living with AIDS.

"I believe the Bush administration recognizes the danger of an uncontrolled AIDS epidemic in China would have regional prevention and control efforts," Edmund Settle told United Press International.

Settle, the program coordinator for the China HIV/AIDS Information Network in Beijing, said Tobias's visit represents "a highly symbolic message sent by the administration highlighting a $35 million commitment the United States will provide China between 2004 and 2008. It represents Washington's increasing commitment to work with Chinese authorities at the highest political levels to improve China's AIDS response."

Settle said there has been "a huge social and financial commitment from U.S. governmental, private and non-governmental sectors in the last three months." He cited the pharmaceutical giant Merck's announcement last month of a $25 million comprehensive treatment, care and information program in Sichuan province, as well as the Clinton Foundation's $10 million pediatric treatment program announced last April, which includes China.

Ed Lanfranco covers Asia for UPI Science News. E-mail: sciencemail@upi.com

050609
UP050604

Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2005. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.

Copyright ©1980, 2005. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .