China AIDS orphans tour Communist Party compound

BEIJING, Dec 1 (Reuters) Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao invited 15 HIV/AIDS orphans and child victims to tour the ruling Communist Party's headquarters today as a top U N official said China needed more education to combat the disease's stigma.

Beijing was initially slow to acknowledge the threat, but it has stepped up the fight against HIV/AIDS in recent years, increasing spending on prevention programmes and implementing anti-discrimination legislation.

''Wen spent World AIDS Day with two Chinese HIV-positive children and 13 children orphaned by AIDS at Zhongnanhai,'' the seat of the central government, Xinhua news agency said.

However, U N China Resident Coordinator Khalid Malik said there was ''great unevenness'' in the supply of healthcare and tools in China in the fight against AIDS at regional level.

''There is no longer a big challenge at the central government level in China. The challenge is now firmly in the provinces,'' Khalid said. ''Overcoming stigma and discrimination is really what we need to concentrate on.'' The Health Ministry said last week that the reported number of Chinese HIV/AIDS cases at the end of October was 183,733, up from 144,089 at the end of 2005, but both Beijing and the United Nations estimate the true number of cases at about 650,000.

China has offered free anti-retroviral drug treatment to registered HIV/AIDS patients, but fear of discrimination prevents many from coming forward.

Malik said the reported number of cases was the ''tip of the iceberg'' and that more ''behaviour'' education was required to overcome people's fear and ignorance about HIV/AIDS.

''Asian societies are reluctant to talk about sex ... Silence does kill, so we need to talk about it a lot more,'' he said.

As part of efforts to spread awareness on World Aids Day, China has agreed to allow state television to air ''A Closer Walk'', an acclaimed foreign documentary on AIDS, this weekend -- albeit minus footage of an interview with Tibet's Dalai Lama, whom the Communist government regards as a separatist.

And a five-year project will be launched next year to raise condom use among gays, the China Daily said.

About 5,000 Beijing cab drivers will also distribute HIV/AIDS pamphlets to their customers in the first 10 days of December, state media reported.

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