People in China living with HIV and AIDS face widespread discrimination and stigma, with even medical workers sometimes refusing to touch them, a UN survey released yesterday showed.
The Chinese health ministry and UNAIDS estimate that the country has between 97,000 and 112,000 people infected with AIDS.
But more than 40 percent of people surveyed in a new UNAIDS report said they had been discriminated against because of their HIV status. More than one-tenth said they had been refused medical care at least once.
Chinese AIDS activist Yu Xuan (雨軒), talking at a news conference to unveil the report, recounted the story of a friend who was refused an urgent operation because of her HIV status, and who ended up dying as a result.
“I don’t want people to have the kind of experiences I have had,” said Yu, who also has AIDS.
China has long faced a problem in tackling a disease which officials once refused to acknowledge, and where for many people taboos surrounding sex remain strong, limiting public or even private discussion.
Deputy Chinese Health Minister Huang Jiefu (黃潔夫) said the government would work harder to address issues related to AIDS stigma and ignorance, but admitted it would be difficult.
“The biggest obstacle is that there is not enough eduction or publicity about AIDS. Society does not know enough about the disease, and people think you can get it just from touch, talking, shaking hands or eating together,” Huang said. “This is a huge problem.”
The government will launch a video campaign to break the stigma of AIDS featuring Chinese and NBA basketball star Yao Ming (姚明) that will be shown on 20 large outdoor screens in 12 cities, but will likely have their work cut out.
The survey found that some children with infected parents but who were not necessarily infected themselves had been forced to leave school.
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
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,
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because
RSS