UNAIDS chief sees signs of progress in China

BEIJING, July 17 (Reuters) There are signs for optimism in China's fight against HIV/AIDS such as growing use of anti-retrovirals, but harassment of civil society activists remains a worry, a top UN official said today.

Peter Piot, head of the United Nations AIDS agency UNAIDS, said Chinese government and society were increasingly willing to talk about the problem in a country were eight people become infected an hour.

''I've been coming to China for 14 to 15 years, and I can say that the first five, six years there was basically no receptivity,'' he told a news conference. ''Now today a lot is going on. Systems are being put in place. I think it's really different.

''When you look at it, there's strong leadership. The education is there, there is money, drugs. I think key obstacles are the size of the country and that everyone needs to know (about the problem),'' he added.

''There are signs that the corner is being turned around for AIDS in China, but there are some big challenges ahead.'' China recorded its first outbreak of AIDS in 1989. During the 1990s, many people -- notably in the central province of Henan -- contracted the virus through contaminated blood transfusions.

An estimated 650,000 people are living with HIV/AIDS in China, and health experts say the disease is moving into the general population with most new infections now spread sexually, although drug-users follow closely behind.

Wang Longde, a deputy health minister and China's AIDS chief, said greater use of anti-retrovirals in Henan had cut the death rate in half since 2002.

This year the government would spend 960 million yuan (127 million dollars) on drugs and put more effort into education and reaching out to China's marginalised gay community, Wang said.

''Our work has only just begun there, as infections keep going up in this area,'' he added.

Beijing has traditionally been suspicious of groups it does not control, like non-government organisations, an attitude Piot said had to change.

He said his Beijing office had been ''directly engaged'' in ensuring Chinese activists were not harassed or jailed.

''For us it's essential. You can't fight AIDS without the people who are in the first place concerned about it,'' he said.

In May the government barred AIDS activist Hu Jia and his wife from leaving the country, accusing them of endangering national security.

China was not unique in having these problems though, Piot said.

''All over the world we get basically, at least once a week, reports of AIDS activists that are being harassed somewhere in the world, in jail, be it in the US, be it in South Africa, be it in Zambia as last week,'' he said.

REUTERS SKB KP1518