The male to female ratio of HIV infection in China was 5:1 in 1990. Now the figure is closer to 2:1. World Population Day, a government initiative, is putting women in the media limelight.
"The number of women infected with HIV/Aids is climbing," Wei Jian'an, an official with China's Aids Prevention and Treatment office, told the China Daily.
"Most of the recent infections in women have been sexually transmitted. Some of them belong to the high-risk group of prostitutes, while others are just ordinary housewives or career women, infected by their husbands," she said.
Health Minister Gao Qiang told a recent Beijing conference that less than 40% of women in the countryside knew how to prevent Aids.
China estimates that 840,000 of its citizens are infected with HIV, including 80,000 with Aids.
But international groups believe the real figure is much higher.
The United Nations' Aids agency says that up to 10 million Chinese people could be infected by 2010 without more aggressive prevention measures.
Evidently the Chinese government health agencies are beginning to wake up to the fact that taboos and secrecy are no defence. And about time too.
It'll be interesting to see how the rest of the government reacts.
Xanippi
HOPEFUL
Richmond, VA
JUL 12, 2005 01:29 AM