NKUYE MOYO

PEKING UNIVERSITY
INSTITUTE OF POPULATION RESEARCH
MASTER’S STUDENT
 Introduction
 Situation analysis of HIV & AIDS in China
 At-risk groups
 Statistics for AIDS in Asia
 Issues of stigma and discrimination
 Government response
 Issues of Concern
 Situation analysis of Africa
 Roles of China and Africa in containing the
epidemic
 HIV and AIDS are not just a public health issues
 It’s a workplace, developmental challenge and wide spread
insecurity.
 It cuts across all socio-cultural aspects of life and dements
economic structure of affected nations
 One key fact is it has its primary impact on the working-age
population
 Possible evolution of pandemic from localized high-
prevalence to more spread, generalized epidemic poses
critical question to which few good answers exist.
 No adequate scrutiny of population for HIV by Chinese govt
 Govt’s responsiveness though improving, lags especially
with respect to at-risk populations
 This has led to long term spread and impact of the disease
 Lack of reliable, comprehensive surveillance & reporting
system coupled with an ineffective referral chain with
Chinese healthcare system challenges the determination of
the true impact of the disease
 Majority of Chinese PLHA are within marginalized, at-risk,
and hard to reach persons such as IDUs, CSWs, and migrant
workers.
 Disease predominantly found in remote poor among ethnic
minorities in southwestern and western China.
 All provinces and municipalities have HIV+ In china
 End 2005, 600,000 people were infected
 ¾ living in Yunnan, Henan, Xinjiang, Guangxi and
Guangdong provinces
 2006, Ministry of Health reveals that new HIV cases soar by
45%
 In 2007 govt says 700,000 people are living with HIV/AIDS
 Year before, China lowered estimate from 840,000 to
650,000 despite international experts warnings
 More troubling is data regarding at-risk groups
 Data shows that prevalence tripled among IDU from 1.95% in
1998 to 6.48% in 2004
 Also from 0.02% in 1996 to almost 1.0% in 2004 among CSWs-
about 5-fold jump
 Among pregnant women in high-risk areas, prevalence
dramatically grew from nil in 1997 to 0.26 in 2004
 End of 2005, provinces such Yunnan, Henan and Xinjiang had
prevalent rates exceeding 1.0% for pregnant women and others
that received premarital and clinical HIV testing.
 In Sichuan province, prevalence among IDUs rose from 115 in
2002 to 18% in 2004
 More males are IDUs but most women who use IDU are CSW
thereby increasing risk of acquiring HIV
 In 2003 about 30%-40% IDUs in China were women and sold
sex
 UNAIDS 2008 reduced HIV estimates for China from 840,000
to 700,000 due to better methods of estimation and data
availability
 Like other Asian countries, prevalence Prevalence
Country in China is low at
0.1% Cambodia rate
1.6 (%)
China 0.1
Indonesia 1.0
Philippines 1.0
Bangladesh 0.2
India 0.3
Viet Nam 0.5
Myanmar 1.8
Thailand 1.4
South Korea 0.1
 A study in 2008 in Kunming, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen,
Wuhan and Zhengzhou showed high levels of lack of
information
 Misconceptions such getting infected from mosquito bite,
using the same toilet, eating together and using the same
tools with some infected were highly pronounced
 Attitudes towards condom use was also very low at 19.2%
while 30% feel it’s not good for HIV positive pupils to study
with the uninfected ones.
 With migrant workers showing greatest opposition at 48.7%
 Also found is that most respondents (83.4%) have never
searched for information on HIV & AIDS on their own
 And 88% felt they were not at risk of contracting HIV
 Since 2003, there has been recommendable improvement in
handling issues of HIV & AIDS.
 Increased budget from RMB100 million ($12.5 million) in
2002 to RMB 800 million ($100 million) in 2005.
 For 2006- 2007 more than doubled to RMB 1.5 billion ($185
million)
 2003, China CARES (comprehensive AIDS response) initiated
funding from central govt and Global fund
 2002, free HIV testing available in 15 provinces, from 365
counties to over 2,300 counties
 2006, long awaited regulations put in place that look at
plight of PLHA while also codifying stigma & discrimination
 Govt acknowledges fact its facing battle in resolving HIV and
AIDS
 People with risky behaviors feel they at risk of
catching HIV due to limited understanding of the
virus
 Need to clear misconception as can be seen from
high stigma & discrimination
 Media should become proactive in disseminating
information- possible only if govt provides an
enabling environment
 Non availability of CSOs calls for better integration
of govt and NGOs to help revamp the fight against
HIV & AIDS
 A little more than 10% of world’s population live in Africa
 Yet 2/3 of all PLWA live in sub-Saharan Africa causing
immense suffering in the continent.
 During 2007 alone, about 1.5 million adults and children
died due AIDS
 The prevalence vary dramatically with Southern Africa being
the most affected.
 Account for 1/3 of all infections and deaths to HIV & AIDS
globally.
 8 countries had prevalence rates above 15% in
2005;Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South
Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
 Nowhere else in the world has notional prevalence reached
such levels
 The graph shows prevalence rates in Southern
Africa
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
East African prevalence
 Overall numbers of infection remain small except
for Sudan
 However, they have been increasing in most
countries due to expanded HIV testing
 In 2005 Sudan had highest national prevalence at
1.6 %
 Like any other part of Africa, the problem with this
sub region is MSM as data is scanty as such is
viewed as taboo, highly stigmatized and under-
researched
Main transmission in Libya,Algeria, Tunisia
and morocco is IDU.
 China has heavily invested in Africa in mining,
agriculture, manufacturing, e.t.c
 Investment in public health is yet to be noticed
 Common knowledge tells us Africa has been hardest
hit with poverty, hunger and disease
 Mostly Chinese investment has been applauded
though section of society feel it lacks social
responsibility
 However co-existence has to be emphasize when
talking about the China-Africa relations
 Earlier statistics pose a looming danger if unchecked
for both on human resources
 Casual sex between Chinese investment employees
and African local girls has been documented; eg
Zambia
 This same group of employees would travel for holiday
home hence transmitting the virus to family members
 China can learn from Africa how some countries have been
reducing the prevalence rate
 So many success stories, e.g Uganda
 China needs to get out of the closet e.g Yoweri Museveni of
Uganda
 Cognizance is made for senior leaders taking part in the fight.
E.g Premier Wenjinbao
 African would like to see more investment in public health in
localities of Chinese investment
 Chinese investors need more knowledge of pandemic before
investing in Africa as well as their social responsibility
 Researchers and scholars should view health as paramount
when discussing these relation not solely looking at trade and
investment
 More research is needed to better understand the mutual
benefits of fighting the epidemic.
Thank you very much for listening
 Peking University
Institute of Population Research
Nkuye Moyo
mnkuye@gmail.com
Mobile:13261738922
Home: 01062763419