Patients may share cost of AIDS therapy

China is considering having patients pay part of the cost for AIDS treatment, a service the government has offered free since 2003, an official said.

Under the planned co-payment model, the government will continue to offer free, basic treatment, especially for those with financial problems, but patients can choose to pay for better medicines and therapies.

The move is designed to solve a shortage of government funding amid a rise of HIV/AIDS patients in China, Sun Xinhua, an official of the disease prevention and control bureau of the Ministry of Health, told China Daily on Thursday.