Activists were skeptical of a pledge by China’s government a day before World AIDS Day to fight discrimination against people with the disease, saying yesterday the move would mean little without improvements in education to increase awareness and alter mindsets.
Health authorities and the UN AIDS agency pledged on Sunday to combat the stigmatization of people with the disease by unveiling a massive red ribbon, the symbol of AIDS awareness, at the Olympic Bird’s Nest stadium in Beijing. In addition, Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) visited AIDS patients yesterday.
The Chinese Health Ministry said in a statement yesterday that the government would strengthen efforts in education on AIDS prevention and to fight discrimination, while also stepping up condom distribution and outreach to high-risk groups such as prostitutes and homosexual men. It did not give specifics.
PHOTO: AFP
Activists said they were not optimistic the move would produce results in a country where the topic of AIDS still remains very politically sensitive.
“I support the idea that they are trying to end AIDS discrimination, but unfortunately, that is not the reality,” said Li Fangping (李方平), a lawyer and AIDS activist. “People with AIDS are constantly denied treatment in hospitals and have died because of this reason.”
AIDS activist Li Dan (李丹), director of the China Orchid AIDS Project, said community education and involvement were needed to fight the stigma attached to the disease.
“People are still afraid of putting their children into schools with kids who have AIDS and AIDS is still related back to people who do drugs,” Li said.
The HIV virus that causes AIDS gained a foothold in China largely because of unsanitary blood plasma-buying schemes and tainted transfusions in hospitals. Last year, health authorities said sex had overtaken drug use as the main cause of HIV infections.
After years of denying that AIDS was a problem, Chinese leaders have shifted gears in recent years, confronting the disease more openly and promising anonymous testing, free treatment for the poor and a ban on discrimination against people with the virus. But the government regularly cracks down on activists and patients seeking more support and rights.
The Health Ministry and UNAIDS unveiled a 20m by 15m banner on Sunday with the red AIDS awareness ribbon printed on it at the Bird’s Nest stadium, a main Olympic venue.
But in the weeks ahead of the Olympic Games in August, authorities put dozens of AIDS activists under house arrest or surveillance to clear the city of dissent while it played host to the competition.
Official estimates put the number of people living with HIV in China at about 700,000, with around 85,000 people with full-blown AIDS, UNAIDS said. But the number of officially reported HIV cases is far lower at 264,302, in part because of reluctance to seek testing.
Hu went to a hospital in Beijing to see the patients.
“Stigma and discrimination are major obstacles in an effective response to AIDS,” Chinese Health Minister Chen Zhu (陳竺) was quoted as saying at the launch of the campaign at the Bird’s Nest. “We need to engage all sectors of society in China to combat these issues and work to stop the disease.”
Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) also visited AIDS patients in Anhui Province on Sunday, telling them that fighting the disease was a government priority, Xinhua news agency reported.
When Shanghai-based designer Guo Qingshan posted a vacation photo on Valentine’s Day and captioned it “Puppy Mountain,” it became a sensation in China and even created a tourist destination. Guo had gone on a hike while visiting his hometown of Yichang in central China’s Hubei Province late last month. When reviewing the photographs, he saw something he had not noticed before: A mountain shaped like a dog’s head rested on the ground next to the Yangtze River, its snout perched at the water’s edge. “It was so magical and cute. I was so excited and happy when I discovered it,” Guo said.
TURNAROUND: The Liberal Party had trailed the Conservatives by a wide margin, but that was before Trump threatened to make Canada the US’ 51st state Canada’s ruling Liberals, who a few weeks ago looked certain to lose an election this year, are mounting a major comeback amid the threat of US tariffs and are tied with their rival Conservatives, according to three new polls. An Ipsos survey released late on Tuesday showed that the left-leaning Liberals have 38 percent public support and the official opposition center-right Conservatives have 36 percent. The Liberals have overturned a 26-point deficit in six weeks, and run advertisements comparing the Conservative leader to Trump. The Conservative strategy had long been to attack unpopular Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but last month he
Chinese authorities said they began live-fire exercises in the Gulf of Tonkin on Monday, only days after Vietnam announced a new line marking what it considers its territory in the body of water between the nations. The Chinese Maritime Safety Administration said the exercises would be focused on the Beibu Gulf area, closer to the Chinese side of the Gulf of Tonkin, and would run until tomorrow evening. It gave no further details, but the drills follow an announcement last week by Vietnam establishing a baseline used to calculate the width of its territorial waters in the Gulf of Tonkin. State-run Vietnam News
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
RSS