Free AIDS tests pledged in China
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-04-15 09:19

China offers treatment solace for sufferers.

China will start providing free AIDS tests for the general public as well as free treatment for infected people who can't afford it, the government said amid stepped-up efforts to stop the spread of the virus.

China says 840,000 of its people are HIV-positive and 80,000 have full-blown AIDS. But the United Nations AIDS agency says the number of infected people in China could rise to 10 million by 2020 without more aggressive prevention efforts.

State television reported the plan for free AIDS testing on its midday national newscast. Plans for free medication and treatment were announced on the Health Ministry's Website.

The announcements didn't say how many people were expected to use the services or how much they would cost.

The ministry's announcement included a list of medications that would be provided free, but didn't give details of the income level required to qualify for them. In Beijing, government clinics offering AIDS tests has been increased from four to 22, the Beijing Daily reported.

The AIDS virus is believed to spread in China mostly through prostitution and intravenous drug use, but health officials worry that the disease could spread to the general population.

Until recently, AIDS tests were available only in centers that treated sex workers and drug addicts, but health officials now encourage them for pregnant women and some other people.

Early detection and intervention is a more effective and efficient way to prevent and control AIDS, said Ray Yip, expert with the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Speaking at the press conference in Beijing on Tuesday, Yip announced that the CDC would launch a Global AIDS Program in China, cooperating with the Chinese government.

As the director of CDC-GAP China Office, Yip said GAP was launched to help countries with limited resources control the spread of the HIV virus, create a better treatment and care environment for AIDS sufferers and improve detection and intervention of possible infectious cases.

China had opened the GAP program in 10 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities.

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