China pledged to keep the number of people living with HIV/AIDS below 1.5 million by 2010, Health Minister Gao Qiang said at a press conference on Wednesday.

More than 40,000 out of 2 million people were found HIV positive in initial AIDS screenings this year in China. These people included paid blood donors, drug addicts and employees in brothels.

AIDS prevention is an issue that may well affect China's population quality, economic development and social stability, Gao said.

"It may also have an impact on the rise and fall of China," he said.

"The governments should organize all departments and mobilize the whole society to hold back the spread of AIDS," he said.

Required by the State Council, China's highest governing body, government leaders at different levels are urged to directly take charge AIDS prevention.

"Those who try to cover up the epidemic or conduct dereliction of duties will be held liable," he said.

The Chinese government allocated 800 million yuan (100 million US dollars) to support AIDS prevention and treatment in 2005, as against 100 million yuan (12.5 million US dollars) in 2002.

The funds were mainly used for AIDS check-ups, dissemination of AIDS knowledge, treatment of AIDS patients and prevention among high-risk people, Gao said.

China is carrying out a reevaluation of nationwide epidemic situation together with experts from the World Health Organization and the United Nations.

"The reevaluation will reflect China's AIDS situation in a more objective and accurate way," he said. "We'll make public the result in time."

China's state-listed AIDS monitoring centers has risen from 194 in 2003 to 247 in late 2004. In addition, the country has organized 2,686 working teams especially designed for AIDS prevention among high-risk people.

In its fresh efforts for a nationwide promotion of AIDS knowledge, China will officially launch an education program among millions of migrant workers on Dec. 1.

The program is supposed to spread anti-AIDS knowledge among migrant workers who have formed a huge fortune-seeking force flowing between rural and urban areas.

Earlier, 12 Chinese central government departments combined their efforts to publicize AIDS knowledge among farmers and students in 740,000 villages, 50,000 neighborhood committees, 2,100 colleges and 90,000 middle schools, Gao said.

Source: Xinhua