The number of counties advanced to "model" ranking in
comprehensive prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS will be
increased to 127 from 51 by the end of 2003, a Xinhua report said
on Saturday.
The nation already has 51 such counties in areas that have been
hit hard by the deadly disease. In those areas, the Health Ministry
has launched wide-ranging initiatives that include education,
treatment, consultation and patients' considerations.
The nation is also committed to offering free treatment to HIV
carriers and AIDS patients in rural areas and to people in urban
AIDS-infected areas who face financial difficulties.
And around 5,000 HIV carriers and AIDS patients living in
poverty will receive such free treatment this year, and it is
expected to be available for all poor HIV/AIDS victims next year,
according to health officials.
Ministry statistics show that China has roughly 840,000 people
with HIV/AIDS, including 80,000 HIV/AIDS patients, through the end
of September.
However, about 70 percent of the victims are too poor to afford
the medical care they require, said Li Liming, director of the
Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
The ministry has also pledged to offer free medicine to patients
with economic woes and to exempt their children from school
fees.
Apart from government assistance, China's AIDS victims might
also have access to the cheaper drug "cocktail therapy" in the near
future, said David Da-i Ho, developer of the therapy. He said at a
press conference in Beijing on Friday that the cost and prices for
the treatment have fallen internationally and may drop to US$150
for one patient annually in developing countries if negotiations
with relevant international medicine corporations succeed.
According to Wei Jian'an, a professor with the Chinese Academy
of Traditional Chinese Medicine, currently only 5 percent of
HIV/AIDS patients in China can afford this expensive therapy with
the cost of US$300-500 per year in developing countries.
However, Chinese patients are denied favorable prices because of
factors like intellectual property rights, said Ho, expressing
optimism that Chinese HIV/AIDS patients will "soon" be offered such
prices.
(China Daily November 10, 2003)