WHO Director General Calls for Increased Attention to HIV in China
World Health Organization Director-General Jong-Wook Lee on Tuesday during a lecture at the Beijing Union Medical College in China called on the Chinese government to pay more attention to tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS in the country, Xinhuanet/China View reports. During his two-day visit -- his first official visit to the country since assuming his position in July 2003 -- Lee also met with Chinese leaders and health officials (Xinhuanet/China View, 4/20). The Chinese government estimates that there are 840,000 HIV-positive people in the country and that 80,000 people have AIDS; however, some experts believe that those figures are underestimates. The United Nations estimates that there are at least one million HIV-positive people in China and that the number could grow to 20 million people by 2010 (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 4/15). Lee also was scheduled to meet with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to discuss China's role in WHO's 3 by 5 Initiative, which aims to provide antiretroviral drugs to three million HIV-positive people worldwide by 2005 (Agence France-Presse, 4/19). About 60,000 to 70,000 of the people treated in the program would be in China, according to Kyodo News (Kyodo News, 4/19).
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