Health

U.N. HEALTH REPORT SAYS CHINA ON VERGE OF AIDS CATASTROPHe

BEIJING -- A United Nations report delivered scathing words about China's
massive AIDS epidemic, stating that the country's efforts to stem the
disease have had an "infinitesimally small impact."

Titled "HIV/AIDS: China's Titanic Peril," the 89-page report released
Thursday portrays a government that has acknowledged the disease's spread
but failed to contain or treat it on a large scale. Officials at some of
the eight U.N. agencies that jointly issued the report stressed it wasn't
an attack on the government, and praised increasing efforts by officials
and the state media to address the scourge of HIV, the virus that causes
AIDS. But, it is clearly a warning to a government that appears immobilized
by the disease, even as a wealth of statistics confirm its rapid spread.

The report "is not written to assign blame," Kerstin Leitner, the U.N.'s
resident coordinator in China, said at a news conference. "It is a report
that says that the virus is still spreading, and we need to marshal all our
resources in a very different way if we want to stop the virus."

The report hints at recent lost opportunities. In 1997, a report released
by four U.N. agencies, along with the World Health Organization and the
World Bank, spoke of China's "unparalleled opportunity to neutralize the
danger" of the looming epidemic. The new report says that since that
earlier assessment, "much of the hope, expected commitment, and planned
action forecasted [then] have resulted in few real outcomes and an
infinitesimally small impact on the spread of the epidemic." It blames
"insufficient political commitment and leadership at many levels of
government" as well as insufficient openness about AIDS and lack of funds.

The result could be "a catastrophe that could result in unimaginable human
suffering," with China becoming the country with the largest number of
HIV-infected people "in the near future." It estimates China last year had
800,000 to 1.5 million people infected with HIV.

Though the warning isn't new, it is unusually blunt for officials who tend
toward the nuanced language of diplomats. The U.N. report contends that the
government's current five-year plan to combat AIDS offers no clear guidance
on how to achieve its goals. Other problem areas cited include: the failure
of innovative pilot programs to spread to a larger scale; the collapse of
rural health care; a "chaotic" system for treating sexually transmitted
diseases, which increase the risk of HIV infection; harassment by local
officials of some people who speak out about AIDS; and the continuing
illegal sale of blood, one of the avenues along which AIDS has spread in China.

The report suggests several steps the government should take to attack the
AIDS problem, all widely acknowledged as successful in slowing the spread
of the disease elsewhere. For example, Beijing could permit methadone and
needle-exchange programs for drug users. It could target sex-education
programs at youths, migrant workers, minorities and other groups. It could
intensively promote the use of condoms, including among prostitutes and
their clients. The report also suggests broader goals such as official
openness.

An official at China's Ministry of Health Information department had no
comment on the report.