New pledge to control spread of HIV/AIDS
(China Daily/Reuters)
Updated: 2005-12-01 05:59

According to reports from surveillance sites, the HIV infection rate among prostitutes has soared from 2 per 10,000 in 1996 to 93 per 10,000 in 2004.

In some regions where the disease is widespread, mother-to-child infection has also been on the rise.

In 2004, spot tests in hospitals showed that 26 of 10,000 pregnant women were infected in Yunnan Province compared to none in 1997.

About 77 per cent of the HIV/AIDS cases are in Yunnan, Henan, Xinjiang, Guangxi, and Guangdong.

The government has stepped up public education, expanded HIV testing to more people and increased epidemic surveillance.

At least 2 million people, including blood sellers, drug abusers, and employees in the entertainment industry, have received free HIV tests provided by the government.

The number of surveillance sites increased from 194 in 2003 to 247 last year.

Work on HIV control and treatment of AIDS patients has been listed as an important criterion to evaluate the performance of government officials, Gao said.

Those who do not fare well in epidemic surveillance or fail to implement policies, such as free medical treatment for AIDS patients and free education for their children, face censure or punishment.

AIDS expert sees vaccine progress

A scientist who helped to discover the HIV virus said he has made progress toward producing an AIDS vaccine and hopes to launch a clinical trial in about a year.

Dr. Robert Gallo, the director of the University of Maryland's Institute for Human Virology, said results from animal studies were encouraging.

"I think we've made some advances in making antibodies that will react with the variety of strains of HIV," he told Reuters, referring to the virus that causes AIDS.