Guangdong launches month-long program to help AIDS patients ( 2003-11-27 14:47) (Xinhua)
South China's Guangdong Province launched a month-long campaign to encourage
the general public to care about and extend a helping hand to AIDS patients.
Feng Liuxiang, deputy head of the provincial health bureau, said at the
opening ceremony of the campaign that the province planned to provide free
anti-AIDS drugs to AIDS patients in the province in the near future.
Guangdong had reported 4,532 HIV carriers by the end of October this year,
sources with the provincial health bureau said. Of the total number, 162 were
AIDS patients and 49 had died.
The province reported 749 HIV carriers in the first 10 months this year,
including 18 AIDS patients, one of whom died.
However, experts estimated the number of HIV carriers could top 30,000 in the
province.
Currently, more than 1 million HIV carriers have been reported in China. Over
42 million HIV carriers have been reported worldwide.
|