The rights and obligations of HIV/AIDS sufferers and effortsrequired at various levels to fight the disease were made public in a regulation released yesterday.

The Regulation on AIDS Prevention and Control, issued by theState Council on January 18, is due to take effect from March1.

According to the regulation:

No employer or individual can discriminate against people withHIV/AIDS or their relatives. Their right to marriage, employment,medical care and education are protected by law.

For instance, no organization or individual can disclose thenames, addresses work places of people with HIV/AIDS, or theirrelatives, without permission.

At the same time, victims should fulfill a few obligations,including informing their sexual partners and doctors and takingnecessary measures to prevent from infecting others. They facecivil or criminal charges if they fail to do so.

Governments above the county-level must lead the prevention andcontrol of HIV/AIDS.

Governments above the county-level must provide freeanti-HIV/AIDS drugs for rural AIDS patients and underprivilegedurban patients, and offer free treatment and consultation onprevention of the mother-to-baby infection for pregnant women.

"I am pleased to see the final report, which constitutes acrucial part of the country's overall anti-AIDS strategy," JoelRehnstrom, country coordinator of UNAIDS China office, told XinhuaNews Agency.

According to latest estimates, China has 650,000 HIV/AIDSsufferers including 75,000 AIDS patients.

(China Daily February 13, 2006)