Despite contributions, migrants still vulnerable

• Source: Global Times
• [01:41 November 03 2009]
• Comments

By Wu Meng

A front page story in Monday's Global Times revealed a poll suggesting that China's migrant population suffers from severe sexual repression that could contribute to a rise in AIDS.

According to a media report, as of the end of this September, 73 people in Chongyang county, Hubei Province, had been diagnosed with AIDS.

Of the 73, 72 were farmers and 59 were infected in big cities where they had labored as migrant workers. According to the report, 70 percent of the workers had acquired the virus through sexual transmission.

Living the hard life of a migrant worker, they found themselves unable to spend much time with their families; some ended up using sex services in the cities.

The news is saddening, not only because it is hard to imagine what a devastating effect it has on those who can't afford treatment, but also because there is a deeper tragedy in the spread of AIDS among migrant workers.

They are a special group in our society, without basic information on health and hygiene, free medical checks or help coping with the separation from their families.

When the local provincial disease prevention center sent doctors to the farmers' houses to collect their blood samples for the HIV/AIDS test, most of the farmers thought it unnecessary. They had little knowledge about the disease, and did not know how it could be transmitted. With no easy access to such information, they lacked safety consciousness.

The AIDS infections among the migrant workers reflects not only the gap in information between the urban and rural population, but also the gap in civil rights.