Chinese families can’t afford to treat children with Aids

Chinese children with Aids, are not getting proper treatment because their families can’t afford it, despite, an activist group said yesterday. Free treatment is government policy in China, but some especially rural families don't even know treatment programmes exist. "Far too many children are getting the wrong Aids treatment," said Sara Davis, executive director of Asia Catalyst, which issued the report.

As many as 10,000 Chinese children may be HIV-positive, most because of botched blood transfusions or transmission from their mothers. They are concentrated in central Henan province, where the blood supply was contaminated in the 1990s, or in Yunnan province in the southwest, a hub for drug trafficking. In 2005, 9,000 cases of Chinese children contracting HIV from their mothers were reported. Many children with Aids die before they reach five years old often undiagnosed. Some live too far from hospitals and others have been turned away from hospitals and schools that still fear transmission from patients. Although China guarantees free drug treatment for Aids, many poor families cannot afford the associated fees or treatment for other diseases that may strike the weakened children.

The government provides generic versions of four drugs for front-line treatment, but many patients have developed resistance to these drugs. The state needs to "fill in the gaps" by extending coverage for additional medical costs, and providing cheaper second-line drugs, said Asia Catalyst. There are currently an estimated 700,000 people living with HIV in China, including about 75,000 Aids patients. In 2007 around 39,000 people died from AIDS, according to figures from Aids Charity, Avert. However, these large numbers must be considered in the context of China's extremely large population, which is estimated at around 1,300 million. Although United Nations AIDS reports that China’s HIV epidemic remains one of low prevalence overall (0.1%), there are pockets of high infection such as those in Henan and Yunan and there is danger of the epidemic spreading further into the general population.

With one in five people in the world living in China, it is critical that the country continues with its efforts to prevent a generalised epidemic, as well as raising awareness and reducing infections in the higher prevalence groups of injecting drug users, former plasma donors, men who have sex with men and sex workers. Initially characterised by denial and inaction, the Chinese government has recently realised the danger of ignoring HIV/AIDS and has initiated a broad programme to tackle the epidemic.

By Hayley Jarvis for SOS Children