The Global Fund has launched an extensive program to train hundreds of AIDS counselors in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, according to sources with the regional center for disease control and prevention. 

The programs will be launched in 13 counties and five cities in Guangxi to offer skills-training to AIDS counselors who will learn about the AIDS epidemic, its prevention and treatment. The counselors will also be taught consulting skills enabling them to work directly with AIDS patients.

About 600 AIDS counselors are expected to be trained, said Chen Jie, deputy director of the Guangxi regional center for disease control and prevention.

"Self-examination is an important part of AIDS prevention and control. It helps HIV carriers and AIDS patients better understand their own condition so they can monitor and check the spread of the disease," said Chen. "This requires that AIDS counselors be well informed and equipped with good skills."

The program will be supported by US$10 million over five years from the Global Fund, the most ever received for a health-related aid program in Guangxi, said Chen.

The Global Fund, or the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria was created in 2002 to fight against three of the world's most devastating diseases. It has financed programs in 130 countries and regions.

As of the end of last year, a total of 20,604 people had been infected with HIV virus in Guangxi, the third highest rate of infection in the country.

(Xinhua News Agency February 9, 2006)