The plan, which also targets illegal blood transfusions, mother to child transmission and needle sharing, is part of the 13th Five-Year Plan, the Council said [Xinhua]
China’s State Council has embarked on a multi-tier strategy including education and awareness, prevention and treatment to deal with the growing numbers of HIV/AIDS patients.
The plan, which also targets illegal blood transfusions, mother to child transmission and needle sharing, is part of the 13th Five-Year Plan, the Council said.
Improving quality of life and reducing the number of deaths of HIV/AIDS patients is central to this plan.
It also falls within efforts by Chinese President Xi Jinping that government and social institutions must do more toward the prevention and control of HIV/Aids.
Doing so, he said concerns people’s life and health, and social harmony and stability.
The Chinese President has previously said that the country must implement all legal and scientific methods and policies it has at its disposal, but also stressed that the Communist Party must work with the public to eliminate discrimination against HIV carriers and patients with Aids.
The current strategy focuses on increasing AIDS prevention awareness by employing publicity and education campaigns.
There will also be enhanced blood testing regulation and delivering proper medical assistance.
The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently marked an increase in the number of people contracting HIV/AIDS.
The CDC said that the number of people aged 15 to 24 testing positive for HIV/AIDS increased four-fold between 2010 and 2016.
Some 13,000 men aged above 60 tested positive for the disease in 2016, 3.6 times that of 2010, the CDC said.
More than 96,000 cases of HIV/AIDS were reported in January to September 2016. More than 200,000 people have died of AIDS, but the CDC did not provide a time frame for this figure.
A total of 654,000 were known to be living with HIV/AIDS in China, the CDC said, and 94 per cent of those cases were contracted through sexual transmission.
The CDC has also reported a steady rise in HIV/AIDS among homosexuals.
According to the UN, there are currently 34 million people around the world who have HIV. Since 1984, when medical authorities began to tabulate HIV cases, some 35 million people have died of AIDS.
The BRICS Post with inputs from Agencies
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