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WHAT if the condom that my partner and I are using ruptures during intercourse? This is the sort of typical question that Wang Kerong receives by phone on a daily basis. She has over a thousand contacts stored on her phone, many of which are her friends living with HIV/AIDS or associated with those who are. She has developed such an intimacy with them that they feel they can count on her for help, day or night. They reach out through a simple phone call.
Creating the Red Ribbon Home
Wang Kerong is not only a nurse at the Beijing Ditan Hospital but also office director of the Beijing Red Ribbon Home, an organization dedicated to helping those living with HIV/AIDS. In 1997, the first time she encountered AIDS patients and witnessed their crushing despair and helplessness, Wang was moved. All day long, they would just hide themselves away in their beds, their bodies curled up and their faces buried in their quilts. Wang Kerong realized that those affected with this devastating disease needed not only medical treatment, but also psychological support, care and love.
Her cell phone is always ringing, but Wang answers each call with patience, listening attentively, offering her suggestions and finally consoling the caller. As she says, “This is something that’s not so hard to do, but to those affected with HIV/AIDS, who badly need such contact, it makes a significant difference to know that there are people out there that care about them.”
The Home of Red Ribbon was founded in 1999 at the Beijing Ditan Hospital, originally set up as its special department for the treatment of HIV carriers and AIDS patients. In January 2005, it was officially registered as a non-governmental organization.
“From that time on, the Home of Red Ribbon was no longer simply a part of the Ditan Hospital; it belongs to Beijing, and even to the whole country,” remarks Mao Yu, president of Ditan Hospital and concurrent vice president of the Home of Red Ribbon.
“The greatest difficulty and challengeto overcome is not the disease itself, but rather the social stigma that it carries,” says Mr. Xu, a former travel agency project manager. Assuredly, the Home of Red Ribbon is a big family consisting of medical staff, volunteers and patients who get along like brothers and sisters. “Here there’re no discriminatory glances that we so dread, nor people steering clear of us as though we had the plague,” added Mr. Xu.
Patients at the HIV/AIDS center are treated to a variety of nutritious soups and foods, and of course the full spectrum of delicious traditional Chinese dishes during each festival. They form a community in which they can network with each other and share information and experiences. There are also many professional lectures on AIDS prevention and treatment. In addition to medical attention, the center organizes fun activities like Spring and Autumn outings, picnicking and mountain climbing, giving patients a bit of happiness and relaxation.
Mr. Xu tested positive at the end of 2000 and for the last ten years has gone through all the typical anguish: the initial psychological collapse, the social reproach and prejudices, HIV-related opportunistic infections, and medical side effects.
“To me it felt like the end of the world, and I was obsessed with the idea of suicide, calculating the perfect time, place and method over and over in my mind. But I was also reluctant to leave this world, and the tug of war between the two impulses almost tore me to pieces,” he recalled. Fortunately he came across this excellent and talented group of medical professionals and volunteers. “The support and care of these saviors has pulled me out of my despair and given me the strength and confidence to go on.”
A Dark Past
China’s first AIDS case was reported in 1985. At that time, doctors and nurses who worked in the AIDS wards would don an assortment of insulating garments, gauze masks, goggles and even galoshes. “Despite all this protection, we still thought that the virus could be all-pervasive,” an anonymous doctor at Ditan Hospital confessed of the original assumptions about contact with AIDS patients.
It was a harsh time for those infected. Even family members would, in most cases, turn their backs on them. Occasionally a few close relatives would take the risk of visiting wearing double-layered gauze masks, standing in the safety area outside the ward, and expressing their care through the glass window. The mere talk of HIV or AIDS would bring about horrible expressions on people’s faces, not to mention the thought of direct contact with them.
Due to a shortage of relevant knowledge, HIV/AIDS was once pegged to Category-A control in China, the same level as such deadly infectious diseases as the bubonic plague or Cholera. This category of infection is subjected to compulsory management that exacts the time period for reporting of infected cases, the quarantining procedures, the method of medical treatment, and the risk area control.
As medical research on AIDS developed and more AIDS knowledge became available, on April 2004, the disease was downgraded from a Category-A to Category-B control, and the “compulsory” management was reduced to “strict” management. It also opened a period when the whole society began to treat the disease in a more objective light.
However, for those people living with HIV or AIDS (PHA), discrimination still exists. A recent survey indicates that among all the PHA interviewees, 40 percent had suffered from prejudicial treatment at some point, and over 60 percent complained that their family members were also harassed as a result of their illness. Mr. Xu recounts, when he told his friends about his condition they became fearful of him and later all disappeared.
The 2009 assessment of China’s AIDS epidemic situation jointly conducted by the Chinese Health Ministry, UNAIDS (Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS) and the WHO stated that by the end of 2009, there were an estimated 740,000 people living with HIV and AIDS in China, including 105,000 AIDS patients. The figure shows us the lofty challenges we are still facing, but it is not a mission impossible. It has been proven that decent psychological support, care and love all play a significant role in the treatment and prevention of AIDS.
Policies Support Dignity
The Chinese government has been instrumental in fostering the nation’s AIDS prevention, treatment and awareness campaigns. Each year on “World AIDS Day,” Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao would pay a visit, making sure to shake hands and make physical contact with AIDS patients in order to help eliminate social prejudice and fear,and express the government’s care and concern for the infected. Meanwhile, the special fund that the central treasury has set aside for AIDS prevention and treatment has continued to increase – from RMB 390 million in 2003 to RMB 1.008 billion in 2009, in addition to the central treasury subsidy for provincial AIDS prevention and treatment programs, which reached RMB 989 million in 2009.
Since 2003, the Chinese government has been providing antiretroviral HIV drugs for HIV/AIDS patients and carriers, HIV testing for the risk groups, intervention therapies for infected pregnant women to prevent mother-to-child transmission, and psychological counseling and compulsory education for AIDS orphans, all free of charge. While providing living subsidies to the PHA, the government also encourages them to engage in productive activities that they are capable of.
Mrs. Liu, HIV infected, has benefited from these policies. She recalls that at the time of her husband’s death from AIDS, she was only 29 years old with a son under the age of three. The new policies have relieved financial pressures on HIV/AIDS patients and carriers. Mrs. Liu receives the medicines she needs free, saving her large sums of money. “Many of my friends with AIDS in the past had to spend thousands of RMB each month on antiretroviral drugs, but now they are made free to us. So I’ve no reason not to follow my therapy earnestly,” says Mrs. Liu.
Meanwhile, China has developed partnerships with several related international organizations. In November 2009, the Chinese Health Ministry launched a national campaign against AIDS-related discrimination and stigmatization, in collaboration with UNAIDS, PHA organizations and other co-partners. During the event, Huang Jiefu, vice minister of the Health Ministry, stated that the elimination of social prejudices against HIV/AIDS patients and carriers, creating an understanding of them, and providing proper care and support for them was crucial to the successful prevention and control of the disease. He added that this was a challenge not only for China but also for the entire world.
Aside from the outpouring of governmental support, various non-governmental activities and campaigns have also been initiated, and many relevant charity organizations, medical centers and counseling groups have been evolving their programs. Celebrities and public figures have jumped in to make contributions to the HIV/AIDS cause. Pu Cunxin, a film and stage star, was the country’s first “AIDS prevention advertising ambassador,” producing charity spots and movies on behalf of the cause since 2000. Many Chinese celebrities of international fame, like Jackie Chan and NBA All-Star Yao Ming, have made dedicated efforts to the worldwide campaign against HIV/AIDS, raising public awareness and encouraging people to protect themselves as well as to share their love and care with their friends and family members living with HIV or AIDS.
Creating the Red Ribbon Home
Wang Kerong is not only a nurse at the Beijing Ditan Hospital but also office director of the Beijing Red Ribbon Home, an organization dedicated to helping those living with HIV/AIDS. In 1997, the first time she encountered AIDS patients and witnessed their crushing despair and helplessness, Wang was moved. All day long, they would just hide themselves away in their beds, their bodies curled up and their faces buried in their quilts. Wang Kerong realized that those affected with this devastating disease needed not only medical treatment, but also psychological support, care and love.
Her cell phone is always ringing, but Wang answers each call with patience, listening attentively, offering her suggestions and finally consoling the caller. As she says, “This is something that’s not so hard to do, but to those affected with HIV/AIDS, who badly need such contact, it makes a significant difference to know that there are people out there that care about them.”
The Home of Red Ribbon was founded in 1999 at the Beijing Ditan Hospital, originally set up as its special department for the treatment of HIV carriers and AIDS patients. In January 2005, it was officially registered as a non-governmental organization.
“From that time on, the Home of Red Ribbon was no longer simply a part of the Ditan Hospital; it belongs to Beijing, and even to the whole country,” remarks Mao Yu, president of Ditan Hospital and concurrent vice president of the Home of Red Ribbon.
“The greatest difficulty and challengeto overcome is not the disease itself, but rather the social stigma that it carries,” says Mr. Xu, a former travel agency project manager. Assuredly, the Home of Red Ribbon is a big family consisting of medical staff, volunteers and patients who get along like brothers and sisters. “Here there’re no discriminatory glances that we so dread, nor people steering clear of us as though we had the plague,” added Mr. Xu.
Patients at the HIV/AIDS center are treated to a variety of nutritious soups and foods, and of course the full spectrum of delicious traditional Chinese dishes during each festival. They form a community in which they can network with each other and share information and experiences. There are also many professional lectures on AIDS prevention and treatment. In addition to medical attention, the center organizes fun activities like Spring and Autumn outings, picnicking and mountain climbing, giving patients a bit of happiness and relaxation.
Mr. Xu tested positive at the end of 2000 and for the last ten years has gone through all the typical anguish: the initial psychological collapse, the social reproach and prejudices, HIV-related opportunistic infections, and medical side effects.
“To me it felt like the end of the world, and I was obsessed with the idea of suicide, calculating the perfect time, place and method over and over in my mind. But I was also reluctant to leave this world, and the tug of war between the two impulses almost tore me to pieces,” he recalled. Fortunately he came across this excellent and talented group of medical professionals and volunteers. “The support and care of these saviors has pulled me out of my despair and given me the strength and confidence to go on.”
A Dark Past
China’s first AIDS case was reported in 1985. At that time, doctors and nurses who worked in the AIDS wards would don an assortment of insulating garments, gauze masks, goggles and even galoshes. “Despite all this protection, we still thought that the virus could be all-pervasive,” an anonymous doctor at Ditan Hospital confessed of the original assumptions about contact with AIDS patients.
It was a harsh time for those infected. Even family members would, in most cases, turn their backs on them. Occasionally a few close relatives would take the risk of visiting wearing double-layered gauze masks, standing in the safety area outside the ward, and expressing their care through the glass window. The mere talk of HIV or AIDS would bring about horrible expressions on people’s faces, not to mention the thought of direct contact with them.
Due to a shortage of relevant knowledge, HIV/AIDS was once pegged to Category-A control in China, the same level as such deadly infectious diseases as the bubonic plague or Cholera. This category of infection is subjected to compulsory management that exacts the time period for reporting of infected cases, the quarantining procedures, the method of medical treatment, and the risk area control.
As medical research on AIDS developed and more AIDS knowledge became available, on April 2004, the disease was downgraded from a Category-A to Category-B control, and the “compulsory” management was reduced to “strict” management. It also opened a period when the whole society began to treat the disease in a more objective light.
However, for those people living with HIV or AIDS (PHA), discrimination still exists. A recent survey indicates that among all the PHA interviewees, 40 percent had suffered from prejudicial treatment at some point, and over 60 percent complained that their family members were also harassed as a result of their illness. Mr. Xu recounts, when he told his friends about his condition they became fearful of him and later all disappeared.
The 2009 assessment of China’s AIDS epidemic situation jointly conducted by the Chinese Health Ministry, UNAIDS (Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS) and the WHO stated that by the end of 2009, there were an estimated 740,000 people living with HIV and AIDS in China, including 105,000 AIDS patients. The figure shows us the lofty challenges we are still facing, but it is not a mission impossible. It has been proven that decent psychological support, care and love all play a significant role in the treatment and prevention of AIDS.
Policies Support Dignity
The Chinese government has been instrumental in fostering the nation’s AIDS prevention, treatment and awareness campaigns. Each year on “World AIDS Day,” Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao would pay a visit, making sure to shake hands and make physical contact with AIDS patients in order to help eliminate social prejudice and fear,and express the government’s care and concern for the infected. Meanwhile, the special fund that the central treasury has set aside for AIDS prevention and treatment has continued to increase – from RMB 390 million in 2003 to RMB 1.008 billion in 2009, in addition to the central treasury subsidy for provincial AIDS prevention and treatment programs, which reached RMB 989 million in 2009.
Since 2003, the Chinese government has been providing antiretroviral HIV drugs for HIV/AIDS patients and carriers, HIV testing for the risk groups, intervention therapies for infected pregnant women to prevent mother-to-child transmission, and psychological counseling and compulsory education for AIDS orphans, all free of charge. While providing living subsidies to the PHA, the government also encourages them to engage in productive activities that they are capable of.
Mrs. Liu, HIV infected, has benefited from these policies. She recalls that at the time of her husband’s death from AIDS, she was only 29 years old with a son under the age of three. The new policies have relieved financial pressures on HIV/AIDS patients and carriers. Mrs. Liu receives the medicines she needs free, saving her large sums of money. “Many of my friends with AIDS in the past had to spend thousands of RMB each month on antiretroviral drugs, but now they are made free to us. So I’ve no reason not to follow my therapy earnestly,” says Mrs. Liu.
Meanwhile, China has developed partnerships with several related international organizations. In November 2009, the Chinese Health Ministry launched a national campaign against AIDS-related discrimination and stigmatization, in collaboration with UNAIDS, PHA organizations and other co-partners. During the event, Huang Jiefu, vice minister of the Health Ministry, stated that the elimination of social prejudices against HIV/AIDS patients and carriers, creating an understanding of them, and providing proper care and support for them was crucial to the successful prevention and control of the disease. He added that this was a challenge not only for China but also for the entire world.
Aside from the outpouring of governmental support, various non-governmental activities and campaigns have also been initiated, and many relevant charity organizations, medical centers and counseling groups have been evolving their programs. Celebrities and public figures have jumped in to make contributions to the HIV/AIDS cause. Pu Cunxin, a film and stage star, was the country’s first “AIDS prevention advertising ambassador,” producing charity spots and movies on behalf of the cause since 2000. Many Chinese celebrities of international fame, like Jackie Chan and NBA All-Star Yao Ming, have made dedicated efforts to the worldwide campaign against HIV/AIDS, raising public awareness and encouraging people to protect themselves as well as to share their love and care with their friends and family members living with HIV or AIDS.