Vice Health Minister Wang Longde said in Beijing Wednesday that
checking drug use is a "fundamental" way to prevent HIV virus from
spreading in China as injection drug use is a major channel for the
virus to catch on.
????
At the Beijing+10 meeting to mark the Fourth World Conference on
Women, Wang said HIV virus transmitted through injection drug use
is especially serious in regions or provinces such as Xinjiang,
Yunnan and Sichuan.
???
Many HIV-infected drug users fail to follow medical treatment as
required when getting addicted, leading to more infected
cases.
???
In combating drug use, Wang said, women should be educated to help
husbands or children stay away from drugs. More importantly, all
schools, primary and secondary schools in particular, should
educate students on the harms of drugs.
???
"Anti-drug materials should be used as textbooks and listed as one
course for exams," he said.
???
Official statistics show that by the end of 2004, the number of
Chinese drug users reached 791,000, 6.8 percent higher than 2003.
Among 89,067 reported HIV-infected cases, 41.3 percent people were
drug users.
???
China had 840,000 people infected with HIV at the end of 2003 and
experts predict that the number of people living with HIV/AIDS in
China could exceed 10 million by 2010 if no strong measures are
taken.
(Xinhua News Agency September 1, 2005)