Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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Wall Street Journal - June 28, 2002
Leslie Chang, Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal
Titled "HIV/AIDS: China's Titanic Peril," the 89-page report released Thursday portrays a government that has acknowledged the disease's spread but failed to contain or treat it on a large scale. Officials at some of the eight U.N. agencies that jointly issued the report stressed it wasn't an attack on the government, and praised increasing efforts by officials and the state media to address the scourge of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. But, it is clearly a warning to a government that appears immobilized by the disease, even as a wealth of statistics confirm its rapid spread.
The report "is not written to assign blame," Kerstin Leitner, the U.N.'s resident coordinator in China, said at a news conference. "It is a report that says that the virus is still spreading, and we need to marshal all our resources in a very different way if we want to stop the virus."
The report hints at recent lost opportunities. In 1997, a report released by four U.N. agencies, along with the World Health Organization and the World Bank, spoke of China's "unparalleled opportunity to neutralize the danger" of the looming epidemic. The new report says that since that earlier assessment, "much of the hope, expected commitment, and planned action forecasted [then] have resulted in few real outcomes and an infinitesimally small impact on the spread of the epidemic." It blames "insufficient political commitment and leadership at many levels of government" as well as insufficient openness about AIDS and lack of funds.
The result could be "a catastrophe that could result in unimaginable human suffering," with China becoming the country with the largest number of HIV-infected people "in the near future." It estimates China last year had 800,000 to 1.5 million people infected with HIV.
See the full text1 of the U.N.'s study on the AIDS impact in China.
Though the warning isn't new, it is unusually blunt for officials who tend toward the nuanced language of diplomats. The U.N. report contends that the government's current five-year plan to combat AIDS offers no clear guidance on how to achieve its goals. Other problem areas cited include: the failure of innovative pilot programs to spread to a larger scale; the collapse of rural health care; a "chaotic" system for treating sexually transmitted diseases, which increase the risk of HIV infection; harassment by local officials of some people who speak out about AIDS; and the continuing illegal sale of blood, one of the avenues along which AIDS has spread in China.
The report suggests several steps the government should take to attack the AIDS problem, all widely acknowledged as successful in slowing the spread of the disease elsewhere. For example, Beijing could permit methadone and needle-exchange programs for drug users. It could target sex-education programs at youths, migrant workers, minorities and other groups. It could intensively promote the use of condoms, including among prostitutes and their clients. The report also suggests broader goals such as official openness.
Write to Leslie Chang at leslie.chang@awsj.com
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