Include gays in the fight against HIV

Call to halt homosexual discrimination

BEIJING - A former senior health official has urged local health authorities to eliminate discrimination against gay men and to enlist their involvement in China's fight against HIV/AIDS.

The government is currently capable of reaching less than 10 percent of the country's gay population who are at high risk of contracting HIV/AIDS, in order to intervene if an epidemic is in danger of breaking out, former vice-health minister Wang Longde told China Daily on the sidelines of the National People's Congress (NPC) session.