According to the news of Nov 29 from Xinhuanet.com in Beijing the officials of the UN Children's Funds warned on 29 November by saying that the prevalence of the AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) is by no means limited to the highly endangered group of people and the HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) has already begun to spread among the ordinary people. However, the awareness for prevention of the Chinese public so far deserves our big concern.

Xu Wenqing, an official of the UN Children's Funds in charge of the health work in China, when accepting interview of the reporter, recently said "Among the AIDS infected in China at present the ratio of the male and female is approaching 5:5. And according to the international practical experience when the ratio of the male and female is almost up to a par this means that the AIDS is already prevailing among the ordinary people."

At the very beginning the AIDS was spread among the highly endangered group of people, such as drug-addicts or homosexual gays and the infected are mainly the male, which are up to around 80 �C 90 percent, she said. And when the infected male spread the viruses to their wives, children, female friends or sexual servers the ratio of the number of the infected female will gradually go up till it is up to a par with that of the male.

"At this moment the spread of the viruses will speed up. For instance, among the young people the possible proportion for the AIDS dissemination will be much bigger than before owing to their love-makings," she said.

The virus is horrible but the awareness of the Chinese public at present is more worrisome. A research report issued on 26 November by the Ministry of Health points out, over 81.6 percent townspeople and city-dwellers think there's absolutely no possibility for them to be infected with the AIDS.

The "Research report on the situation of the common knowledge and attitude and behavior in regard of the AIDS of the Chinese people in 2004" points out again, as high as 96.5 percent of the rural folks and urban-inhabitants indicate that they haven't carried out any HIV tests. The major reason for it is that it's not likely for them to be infected by the AIDS and so it's not necessary to do it.

"Whoever thinks the AIDS is still far away from and the AIDS sufferers are the two different colonies of people with him or her will be easier to be infected by the AIDS. Because when they are carrying on blood exchanges, sexual intercourses or giving birth to children they will in now way think of taking any preventive measures," she said.

Again she said, "Such an attitude especially in the highly-endangered areas of the AIDS dissemination, is the main cause for themselves to be infected."

The statistics indicate, since 1985 when the first case of the AIDS was brought into China the AIDS sufferers now have expanded to 840,000 in number and the figure still sees a continuous escalation.

"In Europe, we tell the people there that the AIDS treats everybody equally well and there's no 'discrimination'", says Lin Kai, the official of the UN Children's Funds, responsible for the work of the AIDS prevention in China. "As the virus has no idea and it is possible for anyone to be infected."

He said it was because of the lack of understanding by the Chinese public for the AIDS that has led to the discrimination of the AIDS sufferers whereas on the contrary this has led the reprimanded AIDS sufferers to hate the society or even deliberately to infect others.

Dr. Joel-Rehnstron of the office of the UN Planning Office for the AIDS in China also expressed that the spread of the AIDS was no longer the case as happened some 10 years ago in Henan when a small portion of people there were infected by the AIDS due to blood transfusion. Along with the daily vehement spread of the viruses China has to take measures to eradicate the biases and the misunderstanding from the Chinese public for the AIDS as soon as possible.

By People's Daily Online