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The Chinese Ministry of Health estimated in 2003 that there are one million people infected with HIV or living with AIDS in China. The Minister of Health warned during a conference in 2003, that by 2010 more then 10 million people could be infected, if nothing is done to stop the infection.
According to UNAIDS, 45.3 per cent of HIV/AIDS cases are due to sharing needles among intravenous drug users, 26.9 per cent are former blood donors, 13.8 per cent are attributed to sexual transmission, and 13.9 per cent remain unclassified. Almost half of reported HIV/AIDS infections are among young people under 29 years of age.
In July 2004, the Ministry of Health, the State Population and Family Planning Commission and other departments stated condoms will be distributed under the health and family planning network to emphasize HIV/AIDS prevention. The Beijing Health Department ordered condom vending machines to be placed in high schools and universities. The Ministry of Health will provide free condoms to people living with HIV/AIDS. This nation-wide campaign is organized by the State Council AIDS Prevention Committee.
For such campaigns to be a successful as health prevention measure, knowledge is a key factor.
Results of studies conducted by European scientists on behalf of the State Family Planning Commission show however that there is still a fundamental lack of knowledge about HIV/AIDS transmission, lack of knowledge about prevention and lack of awareness of risks and vulnerabilities exists among Chinese people. In response to growing HIV/AIDS infection rates, the Government of the People’s Republic of China has promulgated policies, laws and regulations regarding prevention, care, surveillance, education, testing and other related issues. An HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) prevention and control coordinating committee has been established under the auspices of the State Council and roles and responsibilities have been designated for each of the 34 member ministries and/or commissions. Efforts are being made to cascade the responsibilities down from the central to the grassroots level of government and civil society.
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Modern society is endangered by infectious diseases, which can jeopardize the development of whole countries. SARS and AIDS are among the most threatening.
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)
Description: SARS is a severe acute respiratory infection of viral origin. The virus that causes the disease was identified in record time (just a few weeks), which made it possible to develop a diagnostic test. This new virus belongs to the genus Coronavirus (Coronaviridae family), which are known for their frequent mutations. The incubation period lasts three to ten days (six days on average). SARS mainly affects adults; it is seen rarely in children under 15 and only exceptionally in infants under 12 months. The virus spreads from person to person in saliva droplets (by sneezing, coughing). Those who are in close contact with patients run a greater risk of contracting the disease. To date, 30 to 50% of those who have been infected work in hospitals.
Impact on public health: SARS is the first serious and highly contagious disease to emerge in the 21st century. The first case, officially registered in Hanoi in February 2003, actually came after cases occurring in China which date back to November 2002. Up to now, the virus has been found in particular in certain wild animals (civet cats, badgers, etc..), which are part of the traditional diet in Southern China. The scope of the spread of the disease qualifies it as the first major pandemic of the 21st century: in the space of a few months, around 8,000 people were affected in about 30 countries and several hundred people died. Mortality due to SARS increases with the age of the patient; from 1% in persons under age 24 to more than 50% in those over 65.
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
Description: HIV (the human immunodeficiency virus) infects the immune system and causes severe immune deficit. HIV is a lentivirus (family of retroviruses) that mainly targets the white blood cells (CD4 lymphocytes). If no antiretroviral treatment is administered, the destruction of the patient's immune system typically occurs in several phases: rapid and transient decline in the number of CD4 lymphocytes over the first year; slow decrease of these lymphocytes taking place over anywhere from a few months to more than 10 years; onset of full-blown AIDS, followed by the destruction of all CD4 lymphocytes. The clinical symptoms that accompany AIDS primarily include infectious complications and cancers brought on by the deficit in the immune system.
Impact on public health
Since the epidemic began (at the end of the 1970s or in the early 1980s, depending on the country), the number of persons living with HIV has increased in a manner that is both alarming and very uneven. In 2003, 40 million people were carriers of the virus; 27 million of them were living in sub-Saharan Africa and 6 million in Southern and Southeast Asia. In 2003, five million people were newly infected, the equivalent of 14,000 each day. Three and one half million children under age 15 are living with HIV. AIDS is the leading cause of death among the 15-59 age group worldwide. Nearly 80% of the three million AIDS-related deaths in 2003 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa, where AIDS kills nearly 5,000 men and women and 1,000 children each day.
In terms of treatment, combinations of antiretroviral drugs (triple drug therapy) have changed the course of the disease, but they remain largely inaccessible, primarily for economic reasons, in the countries most affected by the epidemic. In an effort to reduce the cost of some of their products in developing countries, companies in the pharmaceutical and diagnostics industries have recently entered into agreements such as the one developed by the William J. Clinton Foundation, to which bioMérieux will contribute. Strategies to prevent HIV infection are often difficult to implement but nonetheless represent a decisive factor in efforts to stop the spread of the AIDS pandemic.
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