China's HIV Crisis

Abstract

THE PRICE OF PROSPERITY "To get rich is glorious," the late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping once exhorted his people. Defending this reformist vision, he added, "If you open the window for fresh air, you have to expect some flies to blow in." In the two decades of breakneck economic development since China's embrace of gaige kaifang (reform and opening), both the promise and the peril of Deng's two maxims have become abundantly clear. Although China enjoys growing wealth, increasing per capita incomes, and rising living standards, it also suffers from environmental degradation and a host of social ills including political unrest, increased crime, and a fraying social safety net. China, like other developing nations, faces tough choices between the benefits and the costs of modernity. Unfortunately for China, however, the very nature of its particular political, social, and economic systems exacerbates the dangers of opening up. The growing problem of HIV/AIDS in China is a glaring example of this phenomenon, and one with enormous implications. Once dismissed by Chinese officialdom as a Western problem, the spread of HIV/AIDS has only recently gained serious attention from Beijing. But it may be too late: China now faces a major epidemic, one that the government will find extremely difficult to combat. A RISING TIDE After years of neglect, the Chinese government has now begun to recognize the enormity of the country's HIV/AIDS problem. In June 2001, the Chinese health minister, Zhang Wenkang, made a stunning announcement while attending the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS: China could have as many as 600,000 cases of HIV. This admission stands in stark contrast to previous official statistics, which in 2000 counted only 22,517 registered cases. Even the higher numbers are suspect, for both practical and political reasons. The U.N. AIDS program (UNAIDS) estimates that there are more than one million people infected with HIV in China-and this figure might be even two or three times larger. Among mainland China's 22 provinces, serious HIV epidemics are already raging in 7, and threatening to break out in another 9. UNAIDS warns that the disease, if left unchecked, could afflict 20 million Chinese by 2010.

Internalized Homophobia and Reduced HIV Testing Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in China

“…3 However, that study focused specifically on MSM in Beijing, and the higher prevalence could potentially be attributed to the study's highly urban setting, where HIV testing coverage and access to services is greater. 16 Conversely, 2 meta-analyses of HIV testing estimated that 51% and 47% of MSM in China had ever been tested in 2009-figures somewhat lower than our result. 4,17 Our finding-in conjunction with results from other studies-highlights the fact that HIV testing rates are low, both in comparison to other countries and also in light of the high prevalence of HIV among MSM in China.…”

An Institutional Account of China's HIV/AIDS Policy Process from 1985 to 2010

“…China hosted multiple sex exhibitions in large metropolitan cities, such as Beijing in 2003 and Guangzhou in 2001 (BBC Chinese News 2001, 2003). A 2001 survey reported (Gill, Chang, and Palmer 2002) that only 27 percent of Chinese youth agreed that their first sexual experience should occur within marriage, as opposed to 84 percent in their parents' generation. The number of cases of STDs continuously increased from 58,000 in 1985 to 7,956,000 in 2001—an increase of 136 times (UNTG 2002).…”

Correlates of Condom Use Among Chinese College Students in Hunan Province

“…First, college students might not be aware that the risks of HIV infection and sexually transmitted infections are highly relevant to them and that using condoms can greatly reduce these risks, because many Chinese youth know very little about HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases, and the consequences of risky sexual behavior (Gil, 1991;Huang et al, 2005). For example, a recent survey of 4,000 Chinese showed that fewer than four percent understood what HIV and AIDS are and how HIV is transmitted, and more than half believe that sharing utensils with HIV carriers can transmit the disease (Gill, Chang, and Palmer, 2002). Second, some ethnographic studies found that college students do not feel remorse or obligation to their sexual partners for their risky sexual behaviors (Gil, 1991).…”