A new hope

Women get free HIV testing in Sichuan province, provided by China Red Ribbon Foundation. [Photo provided to China Daily]

"All the medications and consultations are free," Wang says.

However, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission, among the HIV/AIDS population of 780,000, only 56 percent are aware of their status, and statistics from the National Center for AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases Control and Prevention showed only about 200,000 receive free antiretroviral therapy regularly.

For women under threat of HIV/AIDS, the situation is even worse.

Fewer than 30 percent of all young women have comprehensive knowledge of HIV, and studies show young women (age 15-24) are twice as likely as young men to become infected with HIV, according to Guo Ruixiang.

A study by UNAIDS in 2009 even showed approximately one-third of newly infected women contracted the disease from their husbands, who were exposed to the virus by sexual relations with other men or prostitutes.

Another study in 2012 in five provinces of high prevalence showed 31.6 percent of HIV-negative wives were forced into having sex with their HIV-positive husbands in the past year, and mostly, women have little say on using condoms, Guo notes.

What is worse, women living with HIV/AIDS may be unaware of their status, or lack knowledge and access to medical services.

Wang Fang says the ratio of newborns getting HIV from their HIV-positive mothers can be less than 2 percent with medical intervention.

China currently achieves only 7.1 percent, because there are still large numbers of women who are not diagnosed with HIV/AIDS until it's too late, mostly when they are in the later stages of pregnancy, are about to give birth, or have already delivered a child.

Xiao Mei, the HIV-positive woman in Henan province, says she dared not take HIV medications because of fear of social stigma. Her knowledge of HIV mainly came from her husband and mother-in-law after marriage.

"The female HIV/AIDS population is a neglected and silent group," Guo says.

"It is great that Chinese government and HIV/AIDS organizations are launching feasible programs to better support the HIV population, but there is more to do for women living with HIV/AIDS."