The first couple with HIV/AIDS to wed openly in China has
exchanged vows in southwest China's Sichuan
Province.
The bridegroom Cao Xueliang, 37, and his 34-year-old bride Wang
Daiying, both from Gongmin Town of Zizhong County in the province,
took the pioneering step on behalf of thousands of fellow sufferers
in China on Friday.
Many townspeople attended the wedding and more than 200,
including dozens of other HIV/AIDS victims, shared in the wedding
banquet, China News Service reported Sunday.
Sixty-seven residents of Gongmin Town have been diagnosed with
HIV/AIDS, including 25 who later died of the disease. All of the
infections directly or indirectly resulted from the illegal sale of
blood in the early 1990s in central China's Henan
Province.
Wang was infected with HIV by her former husband, He Yong, who
went to Henan with Cao Xueliang to sell their blood. He died from
HIV/AIDS in September 2002, leaving his wife and his 11-year-old
daughter.
As the first HIV/AIDS wedding in the community, the ceremony
will reduce discrimination against HIV/AIDS victims, Zhang Jianxin,
an expert from Sichuan
University, was quoted by local media as saying.
The wedding, supported by the China-UK HIV/AIDS Prevention and
Care Project, shows compassion for people with HIV/AIDS, Zhang
noted.
Townspeople said it was safe to have dinner with HIV/AIDS
victims, and "we are not afraid of them any more."
The bride and groom's love and support for each other will
improve their quality of life and may keep them healthy longer,
said Zheng Shifan, an official with the China-UK HIV/AIDS
project.
The number of newly diagnosed HIV/AIDS cases in China last year
totaled 9,824, including 1,045 who had full-blown AIDS, according
to the Ministry of Health.
By the end of 2002, 40,560 HIV/AIDS cases had been officially
reported in China, but experts believe the true figure is closer to
1 million.
About 63.7 percent of China's HIV/AIDS victims were infected
through drug abuse, 9.3 percent through unsafe blood transfusions
and 8.1 percent through sexual contact.
One major source of infection -- the illegal blood markets once
popular in regions such as Henan Province and north China's Shanxi
Province in the early 1990s -- has been effectively closed down
by governments.
However, many victims infected while selling their blood are now
developing into AIDS patients and need more medical treatment.
Experts warn that unless authorities intervene immediately, up
to 10 million Chinese could contract HIV/AIDS by 2010.
The central government has established a special office for the
disease under the State Council and developed a State prevention
and control program to fight the virus.
(China Daily August 4, 2003)