The Chinese Ministry of Health (MOH), in partnership with pharmaceutical company, Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD), launched the country's largest HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment project on Wednesday in Beijing.
   
According to Judy Lewent, executive vice president of MSD, MSD will spend US$30 million on the project over the next five years, starting in Liangshan Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan Province, southwest China, this autumn.
   
Liangshan has a high number of HIV/AIDS cases, where needle-sharing among drug addicts is the main cause of transmission, said Wang Longde, vice minister of health.

The MOH will provide medical staff and equipment for the project. "The program is a good example of cooperation between the government and private companies, and will have the positive effect of mobilizing the whole society in the fight against HIV/AIDS," Wang said.
   
The goals of the project are to effectively prevent and treat HIV/AIDS, to care for AIDS victims and to improve the HIV/AIDS situation in China.

The project involves a series of measures for fighting HIV/AIDS, including promoting awareness of the disease through education and publicity activities, training health workers, teaching and helping HIV carriers and AIDS patients to lead normal lives, providing condoms to persons in high-risk groups, and providing clean syringes to drug-users.
       
According to official government estimates, China now has about 840,000 HIV carriers, including 80,000 AIDS patients. It is estimated that China will have had 10 million HIV carriers by 2010.
   
MSD has been working in several AIDS-affected countries such as Botswana and Romania to fight HIV/AIDS, and has developed drugs for treating the disease, which have been provided to about 180,000 patients in 68 developing countries.

(Xinhua News Agency May 12, 2005)