Results tagged “worldaidsday”

This World AIDS Day, we witnessed an extraordinarily well-coordinated effort by Chinese media to raise AIDS awareness among the populace and to communicate the resolve of the central government to win the battle against the disease. This small sampling of stories that appeared in state-run English-language media is enough to give you an idea of what went out on Chinese news: President Hu: HIV/AIDS not scary President Hu tells HIV carriers, communities not to be...

China's very first Miss World, Zhang Zilin (张梓琳) was crowned yesterday at the 57th edition of the beauty pageant in Sanya, Hainan. Miss Angola was first runner-up and Miss Mexico was second runner-up. This year's pageant coincided with World AIDS Day and was used by organisers to help raise awareness about the disease. Highlights of the show included a televised speech by former South African president Nelson Mandela, whose son Makgatho died of an AIDS-related...

Occasionally, weird stuff happens in China. It was world AIDS day last week as well as Migrant Worker Rights' Day (in certain areas) and both the government and ordinary citizens organized ways of spreading the message of HIV prevention. Here's two of the more unique things we found:

With visions of sugar plum fairies dancing through their heads, the -Ists began to get into that holiday mood. Well, some did.

As Shanghaiist recently reported, AIDS in China continues to be a serious, rapidly growing problem. Much of the current epidemic stems from illegal blood selling in Henan Province during the mid 1990s. Dr. Gao Yao Jie , an activist for AIDS patients in Henan Province, estimates that up to1 million people are infected in Henan province alone. In spite of this, HIV/AIDS still has a reputation in China as a disease of “marginal groups” like drug users, prostitutes, and men who have sex with men. This stigma keeps many infected persons from getting tested or informing their families/friends/lovers of their condition.

According to the ever-reliable health officials, AIDS is now officially the third most deadly disease in China -- but never fear -- you may soon be able to frequent your brothel of choice and pork away with safety, as plans are afoot to provide education to employees of all local hair salons, massage parlors and karaoke bars, whether they provide prostitution or not, and set up condom machines in the facilities this year. (But we thought people just went to karaoke bars to sing? Confusing.)

Shanghaiist was (un)fortunate enough last December to go to Shangcai prefecture out in Henan, which is where the famed "AIDS village" (艾滋病村）is located. We were shown around the hospitals and schools, always under the supervision of officials. Even though we never paid for the sumptuous meals downed with numerous bottles of beer and rice wine, and were often pestered at night by the hotel staff wanting to know if we needed a "massage", we were inclined to give the benefit of the doubt, at least in terms of moral character, to the officials -- they are skimming, no doubt, crooked, yes, but at least not to a degree that makes them utterly reprehensible, right? Wrong. Maybe -- check out this report (in Chinese) which investigates Shangcai, and tells stories of officials skimming money from overcharging for medicines, not delivering basic promises of patient care, skimming money from the salaries of doctors, and of course, not letting people with a penchant for speaking the truth mouthing off at inopportune moments out of their homes. They said that when one of the most corrupt officials quit his job, the local people set off firecrackers and that it was "more festive than Chinese New Year"!