CHEN Minzhang, Public Health Minister, Statement on AIDS Prevention, Control, Paris, 1 December 1994

Addressing a government leaders conference on AIDS control here this afternoon, Chinese Public Health Minister Chen Minzhang said the Chinese government has taken the impact and harm of AIDS seriously and that a series of prevention and control measures have been unfolded.

Chen Minzhang said: From 1985, when the first AIDS case was discovered, through the end of October 1994, there were 1,550 reported HIV carriers and AIDS patients in China, of which 43 were AIDS patients (22 died)...

He said: China has established the State AIDS Prevention and Control Committee and the Venereal Diseases and AIDS Prevention and Treatment Association, a nongovernmental body...

He said that the Chinese government has been active in launching educational propaganda on AIDS prevention and treatment, attaching great importance to protecting women and children from being infected with AIDS, and paying high attention to international experience on the application of condoms to check and reduce the spread of the AIDS virus. Regular screening of blood transfusions against the AIDS virus has also been set up to ensure blood safety at the source.

Chen Minzheng said: The Chinese government has been making serious efforts to prevent discrimination against HIV carriers and AIDS patients and to protect their human rights and dignity. Relevant laws and regulations and policies suiting China's conditions will be established and improved...

Concluding his speech, Chen Minzhang said: "To meet challenges posed by AIDS, the Chinese government has done a lot in both prevention and control, thus slowing down its spread in China. However, the dangerous factors for its spread in China still remain." He indicated that the Chinese government will "take full advantage of its current low AIDS infection rate, stick to its key strategies, work harder to secure international cooperation and support, and try its very best to prevent the spread of the disease among its 1.2 billion people, and thus make positive efforts and contributions towards the world strategy on AIDS prevention and control" .

[China's Public Health Minister on AIDS Prevention, Control," New China New Agency (Beijing), 1 December 1994; n Lexis-Nexus Academic Universe, 1 December 1994, http://www.lexsnexis.com.]