Shanxi
Province will conduct HIV testing among people who have sold
blood since 1990 during the first four months of this year, said
the provincial health department on Saturday.
A senior official at the department said that some people
infected with the HIV virus have yet to be traced after the
blood-sale scandal.
The department also requested local health bureaus to conduct
antibody testing on the spouses and children of previous blood
sellers who were found HIV positive and to offer timely
anti-retroviral treatment to the patients.
To prevent possible discrimination, the department asked health
institutions to protect HIV carriers' privacy and keep the testing
results secret.
China passed a law in August 2004 to make it illegal to buy and
sell blood in an effort to stem the country's growing AIDS
epidemic, the first time the disease has been targeted in a
law.
According to statistics from the Health Ministry, China has
840,000 HIV-positive people and 80,000 with full-blown AIDS.
Officials of relevant United Nations organizations warned that the
number could hit 10 million if the epidemic goes unchecked.
As part of the measures to curb the disease, China has made AIDS
prevention a compulsory course of schools ranging from junior high
schools to colleges.
China also launched pilot clinics last year to provide methadone
maintenance therapy to intravenous drug users and programs to
promote the use of condoms at hotels, universities and night
clubs.
(Xinhua News Agency January 15, 2005)