Lucia

de Vernai

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December 3, 2007

China Getting Real About HIV? Baby Steps are a Start

This weekend China hosted the Miss World 2007 competition. The event purposely coincided with World AIDS day in order to bring attention to the cause. While Miss China took home the crown, it is the Chinese government that holds the world title for hypocrisy. We’re all thrilled that China’s attitude toward public health has undergone a significant makeover, wrapped with a red ribbon of course, but let’s not confuse “beginning of dialogue” and some posters with actual progress.

The overwhelming desire to see China as a rising economic power often inspires us to be selective, if not childishly naïve, in our perception of it. Hardly anyone remembers, or at least admits to remembering, the Chinese denial of SARS cases in 2003. Before the disease became a worldwide threat or even had a name, Chinese doctors knew a lot about it. They just weren’t sharing. Very out of character for China, don’t you think?

This would have not been such a shock if it were equally public knowledge at the time that Beijing workplaces had to submit lists of “possible AIDS patients” to the government or that in some places around the country, albeit against federal regulation, persons with AIDS are not allowed to enter schools or get married. Makes you feel less pity for the geese, doesn’t it?

At the beginning of the decade, increasing pressure from the United Nations and the Western-image public relations value of fighting AIDS inspired the Chinese government to take action. Mind you, in communist speak, “take action” means hold a meeting. So in 2001 they put together the Beijing International AIDS Congress. There, the first AIDS-infected man was allowed to speak to a public audience. Amnesty International must have had a party. To be fair, the Congress was a direct result of the previously central government-approved Five-Year Plan of Action to Contain and Control HIV/AIDS. Given the history of those five-year plans, a token speaker is hardly anything to complain about.    

In 2004, China placed its HIV-infected population at 84,000 people. On Thursday, the official figure was 223,501 – an increase from last year’s 183,733. The UN also saw higher numbers this time around; a UNAIDS report from the same week says that the number is closer to 700,000. Methodology is problematic and reporting shifty at best in developing nations, but somehow I trust the people who don’t harvest prisoners’ organs more.

While it is equally difficult to believe that over the past six years condom use among sex workers has gone up from 14.7 to 41.1 percent, preventive measures are high on the central government’s beloved agendas. The infamous governmental meddling in sexual and reproductive health is reaching new heights as officials suggest male circumcision as a viable way to protect from the virus. Recommended by the World Health Organization, it may be a realistic option for developing nations, but with a 60 percent effectiveness expectancy, it may not be the optimal choice for a government who likes to see those numbers shrink fast.  

On the bright side, when interviewed, Miss China told the press that she plans to "use the power and beauty of Miss World to support those in need." I’ll be impressed if she convinces the other girls on Pageant Place to wear a red ribbon.

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