"Li Dan was taken away by local government and village
officials in Zhecheng county," Wan Yanhai, a leading Beijing-based AIDS
activist told AFP.News (Updated August 14,
2004)
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Tue Aug 10, 1:07 AM ET
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BEIJING (AFP) - A leading Chinese AIDS activist has gone missing in central Henan province, activists said, accusing local government officials of abducting him to cover up a debilitating AIDS epidemic.
"Li Dan was taken away by local government and village
officials in Zhecheng county," Wan Yanhai, a leading Beijing-based AIDS
activist told AFP.
"They took him away without an arrest warrant or any other official document, so that is why we consider this a kidnapping."
Li and a colleague were detained on Sunday night as they prepared to visit Shuangmiao village where other AIDS activists and patients had been preparing protests over government treatment of the epidemic, Wan said.
After being locked up in a local hotel, Li's colleague was released, but the officials took Li away to an undisclosed location, he said.
Police in Zhecheng county said they knew nothing of Li's disappearance or his activities in the area.
AIDS has hit harder in Henan than perhaps any other part of China as tens of thousands of impoverished farmers contracted the disease while selling blood for transfusions under unhygienic conditions.
No one has been held responsible for the scandal.
Li, who runs a Beijing-based AIDS self help group called Orchid, had been planning to visit four other activists who were released on Saturday after being held in police custody in Shangmiao village for nearly a month.
Wang Guofeng and his wife Li Shuzhi and two other HIV-positive activists were arrested in early July in Shangqiu city as they were about to travel to Beijing to petition the national health department.
Li Shuzhi told AFP Saturday that their detention was also linked to sending AIDS orphans in need of schooling and care to an orphanage run by Li Dan's charity.
Activists said the arrests proved that harsh tactics are still used to silence AIDS protesters, despite an apparent newfound openness among China's leaders in dealing with the country's HIV/AIDS epidemic.
In provinces such as Henan, where farming communities have been devastated by AIDS, officials have stormed villages at night, beating and arresting HIV-infected farmers demanding better care, according to campaigners.
"They've built special jails in the counties affected by AIDS to house AIDS patients," Wan, China's most well-known AIDS activist, said.
"This is central government policy."
Despite increasing numbers of children orphaned by AIDS in Henan and other central provinces, the Chinese government has frowned upon charities trying to help.
Li Dan's orphanage was ordered shut in July.
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Wed Aug 11, 1:05 PM ET
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BEIJING (AFP) - Actor Roger Moore, goodwill ambassador of UNICEF, lashed out at the Beijing hotels and schools which have turned away a group of 71 "AIDS orphans" who came to the Chinese capital for a summer camp.
The former James Bond star
said the schools and hotels who closed their doors on the children whose parents
died from AIDS after selling blood in central China "should hang their
heads in shame" for not helping them, Xinhua news agency reported.
The children are not infected, but the schools and hotels worried their students or guests would feel uncomfortable knowing their facilities had been used by AIDS orphans.
The summer camp was organized by AIDS activists and volunteers partly to raise awareness about the plight of the orphans, many of whom are left to fend for themselves with no help from the government.
Their parents sold blood to earn money, often to build their homes or pay their school tuition. The blood was pooled and reinjected unscreened into sellers after the plasma was extracted, causing large scale infections.
Moore applauded another hotel, located in the western outskirts of Beijing, which later accepted the children, the report said.
Moore was quoted as saying "there should be no stigma or discrimination" against the orphans and they should not lose their friends and jobs.
Some 78,000 children have lost parents to AIDS in China, said UNICEF, the UN Children's Fund.
Emerging from early denial that China has a exploding AIDS problem, the central government has now vowed to fight discrimination against the growing population of HIV/AIDS patients, who officially number 840,000 carriers.
The true figure is believed to be much higher and the United Nations says the number could rise to 10 million if the epidemic is not treated seriously.
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Mon Aug 9, 9:48 PM ET
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BEIJING (AFP) - Just 8.7 percent of Chinese people are fully knowledgable about transmission and prevention of AIDS -- a problem that is fuelling the spread of the disease, according to a study.
Some 25 percent of rural
residents have never even heard of the virus.
"The depth of knowledge about HIV/AIDS among Chinese residents is not sufficient to prevent its spread in the country," said the survey conducted by Futures Group Europe and Beijing-based Horizon Research Group.
"People's care and acceptance for AIDS patients or people living with AIDS has been circumscribed by lack of knowledge," it added.
China says it has about 840,000 HIV patients, although the United Nations has warned it could have 10 million cases by the end of the decade if the problem is not urgently tackled.
The survey, sponsored by the British Department for International Development, was conducted from August to September 2003 among 3,968 people from seven Chinese cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, and small towns and villages in seven provinces.
Respondents, aged between 16 and 60, were asked questions like whether a pregnant woman infected with HIV or AIDS could transmit the virus to her unborn child.
They were also asked whether a person could get HIV by sharing a meal with someone who is infected and whether you could protect yourself by using a condom.
Only 8.7 percent answered all seven questions posed correctly.
Just half the respondents knew that having no sexual contact would reduce the chance of infection while only 40 percent were aware that using a condom could protect against HIV transmisson.
Some 25.6 percent answered all four questions on AIDS transmission routes correctly, while 21.4 percent correctly answered all three quesitons on prevention against HIV/AIDS.
Rural residents lagged behind urban residents on knowledge about AIDS with 96.2 percent of urbanites having heard about the disease, compared with only 75.1 percent in the countryside.
Despite some knowledge about the disease, sympathy and acceptance of AIDS patients has shrunk from 2002, the survey said.
Results show that just 33.9 percent of urban residents think they could work harmoniously with AIDS patients, 7.1 percentage points lower than last year, while 57 percent of urban residents would keep it a secret if they had a family member with the disease.
The survey also found that few Chinese people know that condoms can protect against AIDS and only a small fraction said they would use them.
Among around half of the respondents who said they were taking protective measures against AIDS, only 4.8 percent said they always used condoms when having sex.
Meanwhile, just 19 percent expressed concern about needle-sharing.
For years, China officially insisted that AIDS was a foreign issue affecting only marginalized groups in society.
But over the past year, it has started exhibiting a growing willingness to acknowledge the real extent of the danger.
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Thu Aug 12, 4:22 AM ET
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MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) - Australia's first breast milk bank will open for business next year to meet a growing demand from ageing mothers and premature babies, the centre's founder said.
Lactation consultant
Margaret Callaghan said the private clinic will offer pasteurised breast milk to
hospitals treating newborns and to mothers who cannot produce enough milk.
She said donors would undergo strict screening for diseases in much the same way as blood banks screen donors but the milk would be expressed at home
"It wouldn't be like a cow shed," Callaghan said.
The milk is then frozen at the clinic for later use.
Callaghan said premature babies would be the prime target as they were the most likely to suffer necrotising enterocolitis, or bowel blockages, after being fed formula.
She said using excess milk from new mothers to nourish other babies was common practice in hospitals until HIV/AIDS emerged in the 1980s.
She had spent several years trying to establish a "white bank" in Australia but could not find any regulations which would cover the product.
Several breast milk banks already operate in Britain, the United States and Europe.
Callaghan said the demand for breast milk had increased as the average age of mothers rose.
"I have people ringing me saying 'Where can I get some human milk from'," she said.
An unnamed new mother told the Australian newspaper she had advertised to purchase excess breast milk after a breast reduction cut the amount of milk she was able to provide to her five-week old son.
The woman's lawyer drew up a contract and the milk was provided under "strict medical screening and supervision".
The Royal Australasian College of Physicians applauded the move to establish a breast milk bank but also said the milk must be screened for disease.
Professor Don Roberton, the college's president of paediatrics and child health, said human milk had advantages over formula, particularly for premature babies.
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Sun Aug 15, 1:26 AM ET
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CHIANG MAI, Thailand (AFP) - His chanting and prostration complete, Lao Buddhist monk Phra Kornkan Chanthamaitry straightens his robe and prepares for the day's main task -- training to become a frontline fighter against HIV/AIDS.
Sex and drugs are the main topics for the monks who have been trained to
renounce both. Laughter regularly punctuates their questioning.
The messages that hundreds of monks have already taken home to Myanmar,
China, Cambodia, Bhutan, Laos, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Vietnam from this most
unlikely of training centres are stark. If you have sex wear a condom, if you
inject drugs do not share needles.
The warnings are timely. The UN warns that Asian leaders have three years to
act decisively or risk the AIDS epidemic running out of control across the
continent.
Of the 38 million people worldwide with the human immunodeficiency virus
(HIV), more than seven million live in the Asia-Pacific region.
But Phra Kornkan says the biggest challenge in most communities is to
overcome the stigma that has seen thousands of families reject infected
relatives because of mistaken fears they will catch the virus.
"HIV is a big problem in Laos but the subject is very secretive. People
feel bad about having HIV, but can't talk about it with anyone," says the
25-year-old monk.
Thailand has been widely praised for its response to the epidemic starting in
the 1990s with condom promotions and public awareness campaigns which reduced
new annual infections from a high of 143,000 in 1991 to 19,000 last year.
Having watched their government lead the way in Asia, the kingdom's monks are
now showing that Buddhist tolerance and openness may be the best tools for
tackling issues surrounding the virus on the ground.
"People in the countryside lack knowledge about HIV and don't pay too
much attention to what teachers, university academics or officials tell
them," says Phra Pongwat Ponyavaro, 29, who ran a bar in beach resort
Pattayas infamous red-light entertainment strip before ordaining as a Buddhist
monk almost five years ago.
"The people have great respect for monks so this is a great chance for
us to save lives and teach people how to care for their friends and family
members already infected."
Phra Pongwat says the monks also teach people how they can stay healthy until
they can gain access to antiretroviral medicines. "Getting rid of ignorance
is very important in Buddhism and so is compassion," says the young monk.
Laurie Maund, an Australian former monk and lecturer at Chiang Mais Mahamakut
Buddhist University, began the classes eight years ago after abbots decided it
would be better to reduce ignorance than take in all the patients rejected by
fearful relatives.
"The classes started at the university with a small group of about 40
monks and has now moved to 10 different countries involving about 4,500 monks
and nuns," says Maund, conducting the latest session at Pa Dara Phirom
temple about 30 kilometers (19 miles) north of Thailand's northern capital of
Chiang Mai.
The monks are taught a broad curriculum on the science of AIDS and take the
parts of families, villagers, local politicians and people living with HIV in
role-playing activities.
Monks also have hands-on field trips during the joint UN and Australian
government funded project that takes them into the heart of affected
communities.
"Ten years ago people were scared and thought they had something
disgusting socially, but with encouragement given through the monks work they
now get the energy to live a long and happy life," says Maund. "We are expecting a group of Mongolian monks to come to Thailand in the
near future. Im sure Mongolia wont be the last."
Sitting cross-legged on the ground at a northern Thai temple, he joins
the latest group of monks to listen earnestly as a lecturer teaches the best
ways to stem the epidemic's spread in Asia.
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Fri Aug 13,11:38 AM ET
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NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The number of Indians with HIV infection could rise to 5.5 million a year by 2033 -- more than the total number of existing cases -- unless urgent steps are taken, the World Bank said on Friday.
Without a change in treatment policy and progress in prevention, HIV/AIDS will become the single largest cause of death in the world's second most populous nation, accounting for 17 percent of all deaths and 40 percent of infectious deaths, by 2033, the bank said in a report on HIV/AIDS in India.
HIV/AIDS currently accounts for two percent of all deaths and six percent of infectious deaths.
"Antiretroviral therapy is not going to have a big impact on the course of the epidemic," Peter Heywood, World Bank health specialist and one of the authors of the report, told reporters.
"What will have an impact, however, is the use of condoms and prevention."
India has the largest number of people with HIV/AIDS outside South Africa and experts fear it could soon vault to the top of the world's list. Knowledge about the illness is still scant, and most Indians who are infected do not know it.
According to the government, the number of people living with HIV/AIDS in India rose to 5.1 million in 2003.
The government has a national program to combat the problem but HIV/AIDS has spread beyond traditionally high-risk groups such as prostitutes, drug users and homosexuals.
Experts say the most alarming trend is the spread of the disease to the countryside, with rural India accounting for a high 59 percent of infections compared with 41 percent in the cities.
Last month, Human Rights Watch said the government was ignoring the plight of hundreds of thousands of children with HIV/AIDS and turning a blind eye to widespread discrimination.
Hundreds of thousands of Indian children in India have HIV/AIDS and many more are orphaned or forced to withdraw from school to care for sick parents. Yet they are "nearly invisible" in the government's response to the epidemic, Human Rights Watch said.
The National Aids Trust says the UK is breaking a pledge made to the United Nations as part of an international commitment to tackling HIV/Aids.
There were an estimated 7,000 new cases of HIV in the UK last year.
But a Department of Health spokeswoman said there was "much to be proud of" in the government's record on tackling HIV/Aids.
Under the "Ungass" Declaration of Commitment on HIV and Aids adopted in 2001,189 members of the United Nations - including the UK - made a pledge to tackle HIV and Aids within their own countries.
The declaration included a set of agreed targets on HIV issues including leadership, prevention and human rights.
In its own Ungass progress report, the NAT says the UK has failed to set national HIV prevention targets and to confront HIV-related stigma and discrimination.
It also highlights what it sees as a "de-prioritisation" of sexual health within the NHS, which it believes has led to a lack of local HIV prevention programmes and long waiting times for testing.
The NAT is also concerned that anti-discrimination laws do not adequately protect people affected by HIV and Aids, and that a promised action plan on the issue has not yet been published.
It criticises the government for not having a cross-departmental HIV strategy, which it says causes discrepancies between government policies - and for focusing on tackling HIV and Aids internationally rather than in the UK.
'Set an example'
The NAT says the government must act quickly to halt the continuing rise of HIV rates in the UK.
It is calling on the government to introduce a number of measures, including creating a Single Equality Act, a cross-departmental HIV strategy and to review policies on how asylum seekers with HIV are treated.
Deborah Jack, chief executive of the NAT said: "The government has broken its promises to the international community and failed to set an example of leadership on HIV within the UK.
"We cannot afford to wait until thousands more people are infected before the government decides to act."
But a Department of Health spokeswoman said: "We have much to be proud of in our record on addressing HIV in this country.
"We have published the first ever national strategy for sexual health and HIV, which aims to tackle rising rates of HIV and sexually transmitted infections and modernise services."
She added: "Last year, the Department of Health invested over £10 million in HIV prevention and sexual health promotion, including world class HIV prevention for those groups most at risk.
"A further £15 million was also announced to modernise sexual health clinics around the country. HIV testing is now offered to all first time attendees at sexual health clinics on screening for sexually transmitted infections, and to all pregnant women."