Shining a light on China's AIDS/HIV shadow
- Source: Global Times
- [02:29 November 26 2009]
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An online message by a 30-year-old woman stirred a huge controversy in China last month. Claiming to be an AIDS/HIV-infected patient, she posted her photos and address, and listed 279 mobile phone numbers of clients with whom she had engaged in sex.
Hoax as it turned out to be, the incident is instructive on the AIDS/HIV situation in China.
In a country that has seen rapid economic growth and dramatic social changes, where the illicit sex business is an open secret and netizens talk freely about sex, AIDS/HIV remains a taboo that carries a strong stigma, causes discrimination and even spreads fear.
This can be damaging to Chinese society, as borne out by figures released in the run-up to World AIDS Day on December 1.
The nature and source of the epidemic has shifted in China, according to a UN report released Tuesday. Sex has overtaken drug abuse as the No.1 cause of HIV infection, and the number of infections through homosexual contact has doubled since 2007. With around 740,000 cases, AIDS was the most fatal infectious disease for the first time in China last year.
The shift calls for an urgent change of gear in China's efforts to fight AIDS/ HIV.
With the increasing population of "invisible" sex workers and gays, the priority should be to "share the sunshine" with them. A more open campaign needs to be launched for more effective outreach among the social groups most vulnerable to the infection.
But change cannot come about overnight. Despite the reassuring effort made by top Chinese leaders to shake hands with or embrace AIDS patients several years ago, enduring social discrimination has kept many AIDS/HIV sufferers or high-risk people from gaining access to outreach programs.
