A hitch in the percent of deaths attributed to AIDS and a dramatic increase in the number of reported cases has Chinese officials acknowledging the nation’s challenges with the new epidemic.
In the past years, China has refused to acknowledge the country’s problem with AIDS, but recently China’s plutocrats have been found championing HIV and AIDS.
Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang described HIV/AIDS in China as being “not only a medical issue but also a social challenge.”
Furthermore, Peng Liyuan, the wife of China’s next president, has stepped up as the ambassador of the World Health Organization’s Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS sector. According to reports, Liyuan has pressed for measures in providing free treatment for people and to protect patients from discrimination in hospitals.
“Li is very friendly and decisive,” says Li Hu, a volunteer of the AIDS program. “There are hopes we can do a better job with [the] leader’s help.”
Li’s efforts, however, are too far-fetched in the eyes of one man whose family has been detrimentally affected by the epidemic.
“I don’t feel anything,” says the man of Li’s futile efforts. His wife had been exposed to AIDS while donating blood as a student in 1997, and the couple has recently discovered that their newborn is at high risk of being HIV-positive.
Although some find Liyuan’s calls for reform and progress impractical, activists like Li Hu add that these efforts are “definitely a boost for our work. Policies can only be well executed under supervision.”
Since the dramatic increase in the infection rate of HIV, protestors in the provinces are rising up and calling for implementation of the government’s proposed HIV/AIDS policies, which include free blood tests and consultations for HIV.
