A national campaign will begin on World AIDS Day tomorrow to help children in HIV/AIDS-stricken families enjoy better living conditions, more love and a brighter future.

"The whole of society should help impoverished children whose parents are killed by HIV regain a happy family life," said Huang Qingyi, vice-president of the All-China Women's Federation.

More warm-hearted people should offer support to thousands of orphans, most of whom live in rural and remote areas, Huang said.

Huang made the remarks at a press conference for the campaign in Kunming, capital city of Southwest China's Yunnan Province over the weekend.

The campaign, jointly sponsored by Huang's federation and the Ministry of Health, aims to mobilize hundreds of "loving heart" families to give their love to children affected by HIV/AIDS.

Vice-Minister of Health Wang Longde said that the Ministry of Health will work closely with the federation to help orphans find new families.

These families will provide not only economic support to help orphans have better medical care, education and living conditions, but also psychological help, Wang said.

The Ministry of Health and the United Nations estimate that, by last year, China had 650,000 HIV/AIDS sufferers.

There are now nearly 80,000 AIDS orphans, and the figure is expected to reach 200,000 by 2010, experts say.

Last year, in 127 pilot areas where comprehensive care measures are taken for HIV/AIDS sufferers, a total of 8,644 orphans were registered by local governments, said Li Guoqiang, an official with the China Work Committee on Care for Children.

The main problems faced by such children are loneliness, serious poverty, lack of confidence and dim prospects for the future, Li said.

Li's committee, technically and financially supported by the China office of the United Nations Children's Fund, kicked off a pilot project providing comprehensive care for HIV/AIDS-affected children this April in Tongren, Southwest China's Guizhou Province.

The committee and its branches at various levels enlisted the help of nearly 10 million retired officials, teachers, experts, doctors and many other well-educated people.

The aim of the pilot project is to encourage these retired people and their families to establish solid contact with orphans, helping them solve problems they face, Li said.

"These retired groups have a lot of social experience, great sympathy and various social sources which can be used to care for these children," Li noted.

Currently, the most popular way for the public to care for orphans is to give them money, food or clothes, "but it is far from enough," Li said.

Xiao Fen, an assumed name for a 13-year-old girl whose parents died of HIV/AIDS in 2002 and 2003 in Tongren, said that a retired official helps her younger sister, younger brother and herself.

However, she told China Daily that she had got some money from the official but had only seen once since April. "I know the telephone number of his family, but I have never tried it even if I feel lonely and helpless," she said.

More efforts must be made to develop better methods to help orphans have better communication with the families, who also want ideas on how to give more comprehensive care to children in difficulty, Li said.

The central government has started to give all registered orphans of HIV/AIDS families free education and other support including food and money.

Source: China Daily