Related special report on World AIDS Day 2004 >>>

China has enhanced AIDS prevention and control work in recent years. Major events in this field since the last World AIDS Day, Dec. 1 2003, include:

-- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited the Beijing Ditan Hospital on Dec. 1, 2003, World AIDS Day, and shook hands and talked with AIDS patients there.

-- In mid-December 2003, Chinese Vice-Premier Wu Yi visited a county inflicted with AIDS epidemic in central China's Henan Province. Wu visited AIDS patients and shook hands with them.

-- In the beginning of 2004, the Henan provincial government sent 76 functionaries to work in villages inflicted with AIDS. Their primary tasks are helping to establish and improve systems to treat and aid HIV-infected people and building necessary publicfacilities to prevent spread of the epidemic.

-- A working committee was established under the State Council on Feb. 26, 2004 to coordinate AIDS prevention and control work across the country. Chinese Vice-Premier Wu Yi is head of the committee.

-- The State Council issued a circular in March 2004 urging concretely strengthening AIDS prevention and control work.

-- A national conference on AIDS prevention and control was held on Apr. 6, 2004. Addressing the conference, Vice-Premier Wu Yi said China needed to build an effective AIDS prevention and control mechanism with the government playing a dominant role and society participating.

-- China's ministries of Health, Public Security and Supervision, as well as agencies of food and pharmaceuticals and market order, jointly held a conference on May 27, 2004, announcing a nationwide crackdown on illegal blood and plasma donation and supply.

-- A signed article by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, published on July 9, 2004 and carried by all major Chinese newspapers the following day, called on the whole society to work together to effectively prevent and control AIDS.

-- The first AIDS vaccine developed by Chinese researchers was approved to enter clinical study on Nov. 25, 2004, a sign China had kept pace with international developments in this field.

-- A survey published by the Ministry of Health on Nov. 26, 2004 revealed Chinese people seriously lack AIDS-prevention consciousness.

-- Vice Minister of Education Chen Xiaoya said on Nov. 29, 2004China had made AIDS education a compulsory course of schools and colleges and would regularly inspect the opening of such courses.

-- Chinese President Hu Jintao visited AIDS patients in the Beijing You'an Hospital on Nov. 30, 2004, shook hands with and encouraged them to combat the disease. He also called on the wholesociety to eliminate discriminations against AIDS patients.

Editor: Catherine