China issues five-year plan on HIV/AIDS prevention

BEIJING -- The Chinese government has issued a five-year action plan for HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment.

The government will make the utmost effort to find out HIV-infected and AIDS patients, reduce infections through drug needles, blood transfusion and mother-to-child transmission, minimize the fatality rate and improve patients' quality of life, according to the plan posted on the website of the State Council on Sunday.

The plan, to be implemented between 2016 and 2020, has set multiple targets such as reducing AIDS-related activities of male homosexuals by at least 10 percent and decrease mother-to-child transmission rate to less than 4 percent.

More than 90 percent of the infected people and patients should receive anti-virus treatment and more than 90 percent of the cases of such treatment should be successful, according to the plan.

The plan also promotes the use of traditional Chinese medicine in AIDS treatment.

International cooperation on research will be strengthened to enhance the prevention and treatment, according to the plan.