China’s AIDS Action Plan Calls For Education, Condom Distribution To Stem Spread Of HIV
February 29, 2012
Morning Briefing
China’s State Council, or cabinet, on Wednesday “published the country’s AIDS Action Plan for the 12th Five-Year Program period (2011-2015) on the website of the Chinese government, http://www.gov.cn,” ; Xinhua/China.org.cn reports (2/29). According to the plan, “China hopes to cap the number of people living with HIV/AIDS at 1.2 million by 2015, up from around 780,000 at present,” by promoting condom use, reducing stigma and discrimination, and educating urban and rural populations, as well as local officials, about the disease, Reuters notes (Blanchard, 2/29). In addition, the plan aims to implement interventions among people at higher risk of infection, such as drug users, and increase the rates of HIV testing and treatment, according to Xinhua (2/29).
China Releases Updated Statistics On HIV/AIDS
January 23, 2012
Morning Briefing
“A total of 28,000 people died of HIV/AIDS in China in 2011, and another 48,000 in the country were found newly infected by the virus, according to an official publication” released on Saturday by China’s Ministry of Health, UNAIDS, and the WHO, Xinhua/China Daily reports. “With about 780,000 people living with HIV/AIDS nationwide, including 154,000 AIDS patients, the total infection rate of the country stands at 0.058 percent, the report said,” according to the news service. “The report added that more than 136,000 AIDS patients had received anti-virus treatments by September 2011, bringing the treatment coverage rate to 73.5 percent, an increase of 11.5 percentage points compared to 2009,” Xinhua writes (1/21).
States Cutting Back On Drug Programs For HIV Patients
By Shefali S. Kulkarni
May 22, 2011
KFF Health News Original
Budget shortfalls are forcing many states to tighten their AIDS drug assistance programs and bump low-income patients to waiting lists.
Xinhua Examines HIV/AIDS In China
November 30, 2011
Morning Briefing
Xinhua posted several articles examining HIV/AIDS in China. The first looks at HIV/AIDS among the general population. The article notes that 346,000 people are living with HIV in China, and the “number is predicted to hit 780,000 by the end of 2011, according to an expert panel … [c]onsisting of members from China’s Ministry of Health (MOH), the World Health Organization and UNAIDS,” the MOH reported in a statement released on Tuesday (11/29). A second article discusses HIV/AIDS among the country’s older population, especially men, and college students (11/30).
Health Care Expands For Ex-Offenders In California
By Rick Schmitt
March 28, 2011
KFF Health News Original
The health overhaul law is spurring a major expansion of programs that will benefit ex-offenders and other indigent people in California beginning this summer.