The Global Fund launched a program in central China's Hunan
Province on Thursday to help prevent the spread of HIV among
injecting drug users and sex workers, according to the provincial
health department.
Measures will include condom promotion, methadone prescribing,
syringe and needle exchanges, a women's healthcare center, an HIV/AIDS
consultant and a testing center, said Fan Yuancheng, director of
the program.
The Geneva-based fund will provide about US$2 million for the
first two years of the five-year program, Fan said.
"The HIV/AIDS situation is severe in our province," said Chen
Xiaochun, vice director of the Hunan provincial health department,
"And the number of HIV positive people is growing rapidly every
year."
By the end of June, Hunan reported 1,963 people with HIV and 241
with AIDS, but Chen said the number of actual HIV positive people
is estimated to be between 30,000 and 50,000.
According to the provincial center for disease control and
prevention, over 60 percent of people with HIV in Hunan are
injecting drug users.
The new program is the fourth Global Fund-backed project to help
China fight AIDS, with work in a total of seven southern and
western provinces planned.
Hu Hong, program manager for China, said the country will
receive US$98 million in all for the initiatives.
Established in 2002, the Global Fund has so far funded projects
to fight AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria in 130 countries around
the world.
(Xinhua News Agency August 5, 2005)