From self-denial to realism -- China's AIDS crisis

Vice Health Minister Yin Dakui is adament that local officials try to cover up AIDS epidemic

By Jaime FlorCruz
CNN's Beijing Bureau Chief

BEIJING, China -- Chinese leaders turned a corner this week when they publicly conceded for the first time that AIDS epidemic is more serious than they earlier acknowledged.

In a press conference attended by local and foreign journalists, Vice Minister of Health Yin Dakui said even though China's HIV infection rate is low, the number of HIV cases is staggering because of its huge population.

"Currently, we have 600,000 HIV positive and AIDS cases in China," Yin said. Of those, an estimated 30,000-50,000 were infected through transfusion of tainted blood supply.

In the first six months of this year, the health ministry reported 3,541 new infections , a 67% increase compared to the 2,115 cases reported in the same period last year.

Experts believe the actual number of people infected is much higher. A Plan of Action passed by China's cabinet last May aims to keep the number of HIV infection under 1.5 million by 2010.

AIDS villages

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AIDS in the cities may be a rich man's plague, transmitted through drug use and prostitution. In China's heartland, it is a poor man's scourge.

In villages like Wenlou in Henan province, many farmers have tested HIV positive after selling blood for 40 yuan ($5) per sample.

Unlike authorized blood stations, some Henan blood banks -- some run by local government and military officials-defied safety guidelines to make quick profits.

Blood donors was pooled in a large tub, the valuable plasma extracted and sold, and the mixed blood re-injected into the unsuspecting donors to prevent them becoming anemic. Tens of thousands were infected.

It was only in recent weeks that the central government has publicly reported about the mass infections in Henan villages. They were apparently prompted to do so because the aids activists and the state media have published controversial reports about it earlier this year.

Local cover-up

Some Chinese villagers have caught AIDS after selling their blood

Vice Minister Yin turned defensive when asked about it, denying that the central government had tried to cover up the epidemic because it was remiss about dealing with it.

Yin blamed local officials and residents for keeping the problem under wraps.

Yin said: "It was not us who are trying to block the news. It is because of the limited knowledge of the local people. They think if the problem is exposed, it would hinder local development. It was already impossible for them to sell their vegetables and meat and export their laborers."

Yin said one key problem China faces in curbing the epidemic is the low level of public awareness. Surveys show that 37% of drug users who inject share needles and syringes, the ministry of health reported. Only 1.9% of prostitutes regularly require that their clients use condoms.

Even after infection, blood donors in Henan's Wenlou village did not even know what hit them. "At first I thought I was infected by some kind of mold," said an HIV-positive farmer in Wenlou.

China has pledged to spend $235 million to boost public awareness, care for the AIDS patients and clean up its tainted blood supply. The question is, will the money be used wisely.