Social media said to deter AIDS prevention

State Council plan says health workers face challenges in reaching vulnerable populations

Wider use of social media, especially networking and dating tools for the gay community, has made controlling HIV/AIDS in China more difficult, according to a new government document.

While China is a low-prevalence country for HIV/AIDS, the country faces a "steep challenge" in controlling the spread of the virus, according to the State Council's plan for prevention and treatment from 2016 to 2020, released on Sunday.

While the spread of HIV continues to pick up rapidly among gay men, greater use of social media has made it more challenging to reach them for intervention regarding high-risk behavior, the plan said.

Experts said that previously, it was easier for health workers to reach this population at gathering places like bars for discussions about safe sex practices and other related health issues. Now, such meeting places are often replaced by social sites.

Wu Hao, director of the infectious diseases department at Beijing's You'an Hospital, said almost all gay men diagnosed with HIV or AIDS at his clinic said they had used social networking tools.

Of the more than 3,000 new HIV cases reported in the capital last year, a great majority are gay men, he said.

"Such tools pose a new challenge for intervention, since health workers find it difficult to reach them for education about safe sex and HIV prevention," he said. "But it's too simple to blame or even ban the sites," Wu said, since networking technology will continue to evolve.

Liu Shi, a gay man and an AIDS patient in Beijing, agreed. He said, "A lack of knowledge, rather than the social media, is the culprit for HIV spreading among gay and straight people alike."

But he recognized their wide use. "Such tools are almost a must for homosexuals as they help us find the group where we belong," Liu said, adding that the most popular gay dating apps right now are Blued, a Chinese service, and overseas-based services like Grinder and Jack'd.

"I hope they will become more socially responsible and deliver more AIDS intervention efforts among the users to safeguard their health," he said.

Geng Le, CEO of Blued, which claims 21 million registered users in China, said, "We will definitely do more to promote AIDS controls, but please, don't stigmatize social media and new technology."

Health authorities also have enlisted emerging social media to fight HIV and AIDS.

Wu Zunyou, director of the National Center for AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Disease Control and Prevention, said, "They have been invited to play a bigger role in better reaching the susceptible groups for prevention education."

Geng said Blued has launched services like free HIV testing and counseling for users in partnership with health officials. They've introduced alerts, in which messages on HIV/AIDS risks and prevention are sent to users automatically when key words like "meet up", "dating" and "sex" are detected, he said.

But Liu urged more systematic and detailed education via social media. "We need details like how to use condoms or lubricant properly, not just vague alerts," he said.

China has an estimated 650,000 people living with HIV or AIDS. "Key populations" for intervention include gay men, migrant workers, students and people seeking jobs overseas, the State Council plan says. It also sets goals for detection and treatment: By 2020, 90 percent of the people with HIV or AIDS should be detected and 90 percent of those diagnosed should be receiving treatment.