Education, resources needed to reverse HIV/AIDS trends
Print Edition
WHILE HIV/AIDS got a relatively slow start on Chin’s mainland compared with many Western countries, alarm bells have been sounding as infection rates have been rising, with many of those most at risk either ignoring or ignorant of the full extent of the danger.
College students and homosexuals have been at the vanguard of efforts to stop the disease, but rates are spreading among other groups, too.
There are disturbing HIV/AIDS trends among young people in colleges and universities in China, where men who have sex with men (MSM) constitute an increasingly important group in the fight.
Ninety percent were infected via homosexual behavior, with MSMs making up the majority of those infected.
China reported about 100,000 cases of new HIV infections in 2015, bringing the total number of people living with HIV/AIDS to 575,000 in the country by 2015, according to the top health authority.
Official statistics showed sexual transmission accounted for 93.8 percent of the new cases in 2015. About 66.6 percent of all new cases resulted from heterosexual behavior while 27.2 percent occurred through homosexual contact.
Due to impulse, curiosity and unprotected sex, the number of HIV infections among students has been on the rise in recent years.
As a highly educated group, college men should have knowledge of HIV and AIDS, but they tend to be unwilling to use condoms during sex, according to experts.
In a survey of 916 students — 311 male and 605 female — at a university in the southwestern municipality of Chongqing, only 50 percent of the students knew that the use of condoms during sex and avoiding shared needles during drug use could prevent AIDS. Among the 916 students, 53 reported a history of sexual behavior, two said they engaged in homosexual behavior, and nine had taken HIV tests.
Non-governmental organizations have played a key role in HIV/AIDS outreach and services.
NGOs have easier access to special social groups, including gays, lesbians and sex workers, who are difficult for government organizations to reach.
In Guangzhou, Friendsteam was set up in 2006 to carry out AIDS education projects for college students.
Chen Du, founder of the organization, says sex education in colleges lags behind, and many students from rural areas know little about AIDS.
Education and health resources have not been effectively combined in AIDS prevention, he says.
Though many free tests target male homosexuals, heterosexual transmission should also not be ignored, as some male students buy sexual services, according to Chen.
Friendsteam organizes speeches, arts exhibitions, parties, classes and seminars and invites gays to participate in these events as part of its AIDS prevention efforts.
The Chongqing Rainbow Working Group and its website, China Rainbow Online, were founded in 2003 and 2005, respectively, to offer care and help for gays, lesbians and sex workers in AIDS prevention.
Some students say AIDS prevention and sexual health knowledge should be taught in classes, and automatic condom-selling machines should be installed on college campuses.
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