A new weapon in the war to halt HIV

By Wang Zhuoqiong (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-02-19 09:09

Wang Ruhui, a 50-year-old village official in charge of the woman's federation in Lincang, agreed. She said her fellow villagers had learnt a great deal from the program, adding: "We used to pay 10 yuan ($1.50) to have our teeth pulled out at illegal places. People didn't realize that was putting them at risk of infection from HIV. Now we know, we'd rather pay more to have it done at the hospital."

Students from Henan Agricultural University visit a construction site in capital city Zhengzhou on Nov 30 last year to hand out leaflets, brochures and condoms promoting safe sex to migrant workers, part of their work for the 21st World AIDS Day on Dec 1. Chen Xiaodong

Another part of the project that has proved a success is the performances for traders and shoppers at local village markets. Field officers and volunteers put on shows in which a male actor, dressed as a female prostitute, tries to seduce a migrant worker, which is usually met with roars of laughter from the crowd.

These market day events have so far been seen by more than 10,000 people, thanks to help of the 2,000 villager volunteers - or "passionates" - recruited to boost the scheme. They include local leaders, doctors, family planners and teachers who offer HIV and AIDS advice, run small TCE community libraries and distribute free condoms.

Field officers for TCE offer free a medical check to local villagers last year in Lincang, Yunnan province.

Passionates are vital in ethnic minority regions because field officers often do not speak local dialects, explained Deng.

The idea of the passionates was also to build a sustainable network that can carry on the work long after the project is wrapped up next year, said Michael Hermann, HPP country representative and vice-director of its cooperation project office in Yunnan.

With China's society developing at an astonishing speed, experts believe there has been a "silent revolution" in people's sexual behavior. However, the scale of the spread in HIV has been shocking.

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