Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Associated Press - November 4, 2002
AIDS in China has entered a "critical epidemic level" and is spreading from people considered most at risk, such as intravenous drug users and prostitutes, to the wider population, Zhang Wenkang was quoted saying in the English-language China Daily newspaper. "We now have no time to lose," Mr. Zhang said.
The minister's remarks, delivered at a weekend conference organized jointly with the U.S. government, indicated increasing candor on the issue of AIDS at the central government level.
China has long considered the disease a national embarrassment and denied it was a problem. Since last year, though, health officials have spoken out on the need for urgent measures to curb its spread. They have also organized national conferences to mobilize prevention and treatment efforts.
However, such openness has yet to trickle down to many areas with large numbers of AIDS sufferers, especially in the central province of Henan where farmers became infected through unsanitary blood-buying rings that were backed by local officials. Activists for victims have been harassed by local officials, and some journalists who tried to visit the worst-hit villages have been detained by police.
Echoing recent predictions from United Nations AIDS researchers, Mr. Zhang said infections in China could top 10 million by 2010. China was boosting cooperation with other countries on research and training in AIDS-related areas, but needed more trained professionals to help stem the disease's spread, Mr. Zhang was quoted as saying.
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