On the evening of October 14, Zhang Dexuan, vice-mayor of Zhumadian, a city in Central China's Henan Province, said he was moved to tears as hundreds of people warmly applauded him and fellow officials as they settled down in a theatre.

The officials were attending an operatic performance in Shangcai County, one of the three counties of Zhumadian that were seriously affected by HIV/AIDS in the early 1990s.

The show concerned the story of an HIV carrier that went from being in despair after suffering discrimination to regaining confidence with the support of neighbours, officials and health workers.

"What happened in the opera has happened in reality here," Zhang told China Daily in the theatre.

"For such a change we have paid a lot in the past 10 years. I am happy that this audience, including healthy residents and HIV carriers, can now calmly sit with each other and with local officials in the theatre."

This scene would have been unimaginable just a few years ago, the vice-mayor said.

"I liked the opera performed in the local language and understand what the story is about," an elderly woman said.

She added that this was the first time she had seen the well-known actors and actresses on stage.

"I really appreciate the local government. Everything I need, from medicine to watching such a performance, is free."

After the performance the woman, who wanted to remain anonymous, volunteered that she is an HIV/AIDS patient from Wenlou Village and is currently being treated at the county-level hospital.

The root of the problem

Wenlou has made headlines in the past 10 years because of the HIV/AIDS infection there. It is one of the 22 villages of Shangcai that have been plagued by the deadly virus.

The county has a population of 1.37 million. In all, 6,767 HIV/AIDS cases have been reported.

The majority of these cases were caused by unsafe blood sales in the early 1990s.

These HIV carriers began to contract AIDS in the following years, with deaths peaking around the year 2000.

The death toll shocked villagers with little knowledge of HIV/AIDS, especially as they had sold blood only to raise a little extra money for their poor families.

Residents were understandably frightened and angry, turning against society at large and particularly the authorities that should have been ensuring their safety.

Into this crisis stepped Zhang, who was approved as vice-mayor and put in charge of HIV/AIDS control in January 2001.

At that time, officials and health workers felt anxious about providing medical services and other support to villagers, according to Zhang.

"It was really a hard time, and the biggest and most urgent problem was that there was no effective medicine to control the deaths," said Zhang.

Nie Yong, director of the HIV/AIDS control office of Zhumadian government, said villagers would often gather before the gates of government offices, hospitals and clinics to seek help.

"At that time, I was the vice-head of Shangcai County. It is common for villagers to suddenly break into my office to ask for medicine and support," Nie said in front of a house in Wenlou.

HIV carriers stood in the sunshine with Nie, listening to him.

"I went to Nie's office and even sat on his table disturbing his work to ask for help," said 37-year-old Cheng Dongdong, an assumed name.

"I really understood them so I just tried my best to take care of them at that time," Nie said.

The chaotic situation gradually improved as governments at various levels devoted more resources to treating patients and considering their family lives, Zhang said.

Especially since the central government began to provide free anti-virus medicines, so-called "cocktail treatments," to villagers in 2003, the death rate has reduced rapidly.

Many AIDS patients that were very ill and weak began to return to the fields and lead relatively normal lives.

Cheng Dongdong, who has been infected with the virus for 10 years, works as well as any other villager.

"It is really a great thing that all the villagers and HIV/AIDS sufferers in Shangcai and the whole of Henan Province now have returned to normal and calm lives after years of chaos and terror," said vice-mayor Zhang.

Treatment and welfare

Apart from the free anti-virus medicines, Cheng enjoys timely treatment for any disease resulting from the deadly virus free of charge at the clinic based in the village.

The clinic, which was established by the local government in June 2001 and was renovated in the middle of 2004, covers an area of 800 square metres, has 12 doctors and 40 beds.

The clinic provides public health education programmes, HIV testing, anti-virus treatment, mental care, and general medical care for the 380 HIV carriers and 2,700 other villagers.

Those that are seriously ill are sent to county-level hospitals.

In the village, 1,427 people sold blood in the 1990s. Of these, 431 people contracted the virus and so far 51 have died.

At the time, selling blood was considered an easy way of making money and even a symbol of good health, said Ding Xiang, the assumed name of a 34-year-old HIV carrier.

She would sell blood at the stations set up at the entrance to the village.

"Before all the blood stations were closed at the end of the 1990s, I had sold blood for at least seven years," said Cheng Zhishu, the assumed name of a 52-year-old man.

Each time, Cheng gave 300 millilitres of blood and would be paid 36 yuan (US$4).

In 1998, doctors told him and his wife, who also sold blood, that they were infected with HIV. The money they had earned was soon spent on treating various diseases resulting from the virus.

Faced with death and poverty, Cheng and others went to government offices to highlight their plight.

Finally the free anti-virus medicines saved his life in 2003. A team dispatched by the provincial government to his village also gave him money to start breeding pigs last year.

Cheng now has 20 pigs, and half of them will be sold at a market this year.

The team, one of those organized by the provincial government and sent to the 38 villages seriously affected by the disease, has been stationed in the village since early 2004.

Several officials from various departments of the provincial government have joined the teams to research care programmes for families affected by HIV/AIDS.

The 27 orphans and two elderly people left behind after the deaths of AIDS patients in Wenlou have been well cared for. Each receives at least 160 yuan (US$20) a month from the government.

Some have been taken in by other families, which will also be rewarded by the government for their kindness.

Two large homes near the villages have been established for the others.

The government taskforce has also introduced running water, improved primary schools, built roads and better houses for villagers.

Several centres for breeding chicken and pigs and feed-processing plants have been established to boost the development of the local economy.

The Zhumadian Yongyuan Technology Feed-Processing Plant, based in Wenlou Village, has realized a profit of 16 million yuan (US$2 million) since September 2004.

Among the 68 employees, 46 are from HIV-affected families or HIV carriers themselves, said Xie Xuezhong, president of the plant.

(China Daily November 4, 2005)