HIV Around the World - China

The exact extent of the HIV epidemic is difficult to assess due to government road blocks. Local governments as well has national government entities are hesitant to place a hard number on the epidemic for fear of discrimination and stigma. Those citizens who know what HIV is are reluctant to come forward for testing for fear of retribution if they are found to be positive. Most people don't get tested because they know little or nothing about the existence of HIV. It's estimated that 17 percent of Chinese citizens don't know HIV exists.

The number of rural HIV cases is nearly impossible to quantify accurately. The shortage or absence of testing supplies and the very limited number of trained testing staff makes diagnosis very difficult. The rural areas of China are very poor with very limited education. Those who do know about HIV don't get tested because of the stigma associated with a positive diagnosis.

The History of HIV in China

The official government stance on HIV was that the risk to China was very limited. HIV was thought to be a predominantly homosexual disease and the government felt that in China, homosexuality and “abnormal sex” was a limited problem.

Beginning in the late 80’s and early 90’s, HIV infection emerged as a growing problem among intravenous drug users. Still, the government felt that HIV was a “disease of the West,” as was their emerging drug problem. HIV was labeled “a capitalism disease” and one that China was not part of.

But from the mid 90’s to early 2000, HIV began to spread across all Chinese provinces. The culprit for such a widespread problem was determined to be an unsafe blood supply.

The Chinese government contracted commercial blood collection centers across China. While there were guidelines in place to assure quality, many of the private collection centers cut corners in order to increase their profits. Their collection techniques exposed thousands of people to HIV. Collection equipment was routinely used on multiple patients and blood collected from several donors was pooled. Officials separated the blood components they needed and then re-infused what was left of the pooled blood back into donors, thereby exposing donors to HIV, hepatitis C and other blood-borne illnesses.

By 2000, fueled primarily by the unsafe blood supply, the number of HIV cases ballooned, prompting the Chinese government to lift its unofficial policy of HIV silence and denial.

A Culture of Sexism

Even in an economic sense, sexism is prevalent. Women are seen as competition for the male workforce. Sexism has even permeated the choice to have children. The practice of gender selective abortion is such a common practice that the ratio of male babies to female babies is widening. Sexism impacts the extent of the HIV epidemic by dictating how people are educated about HIV and who makes the decisions regarding safer sex practices.

Page two discusses who is infected, the state of HIV prevention, and what HIV care is available.