A report on Chinese people's AIDS knowledge and their attitudes towards the disease done by the Horizon Group shows rural residents have less knowledge than the residents in cities and townships. They show stronger fear and discrimination against AIDS patients. The condom use rate is lower among rural residents too. The AIDS prevention work in rural areas is more arduous therefore.

Rural resident are less knowledgeable on AIDS than the urban residents. Number of rural residents who know of AIDS; who are able to distinguish AIDS patient from HIV carriers; who know AIDS is incurable is lower than the number of urban residents. Of the residents who have had blood transfusions themselves or whose families have had blood transfusion, many lack safety awareness in using blood in treatment. Of those who have had surgery, or whose families have had surgeries, many lack safety consciousness for use of the surgery tools.

The rural residents show stronger fear and discrimination against AIDS patients. They are likely to associate AIDS with immorality; they are not inclined to admit AIDS patients' rights to education and work; they show less respect to privacy right of the patients; they are more nervous for contacting with AIDS patients and hence avoid interacting with them; they are unwilling to work together with collogues with AIDS; they are more reluctant to live together with family members who carry HIV.

The condom use rate is lower among the rural residents due to insufficient knowledge of protective function of condom and economic reasons. If the people who never use condoms or use condoms now and then are defined as low-frequency users of condom, and those who use condoms every time they have sex or in most cases as high-frequency users, then the ratio of the high-frequency user to low-frequency user in urban areas is approximately 1:5. While in rural areas, the ratio is about 2:25.

About 80 percent of HIV carriers live in rural areas in China. The rural people lack medical assurance and facility. Lacking awareness, the peasants are more vulnerable to HIV infections.

By People's Daily Online