Impoverished AIDS patients in east China's Anhui Province will be housed in government-funded residences, according to local government sources.

The province has vowed to step up efforts to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and to offer more care to the victims. It has pledged to arrange housing for needy AIDS patients and to provide drinking water facilities for HIV/AIDS families.

In addition, the provincial government has promised to build at least one road in key HIV/AIDS-stricken villages and to ensure adequate medical care and living subsidies for HIV/AIDS infected people.

(Xinhua News Agency February 6, 2006