Suddenly, AIDS Makes the News in China

China's news media have been overflowing with stories about AIDS this week, from patients' testimonials to a fictional TV drama about an HIV-positive businessman. This burst of interest clearly reflects a new policy by China's state-owned media to allow greater discussion about the rapidly growing epidemic. The government also announced it had reached a deal to import discounted AIDS drugs -- though the resulting prices are still far above what a vast majority of Chinese can afford. Last month, Peter Piot, director of UNAIDS, warned that if China did not move quickly to acknowledge and address its AIDS epidemic, as many as 20 million people could be HIV-infected by 2010.

This week's news media attention, prompted by World AIDS Day, was a great improvement over last year's effort. For the first time, radio announcers talked about safe sex, and a few people with AIDS appeared on television -- though most were disguised, and talk shows hosts were told not to discuss the many villages that have been decimated by AIDS through unsanitary blood collection and supply procedures.

Generally, however, China continues to downplay the epidemic. Until now, the government has done little to help people with HIV, most of whom die without drugs or medical care. The discounted drugs that the government is pursuing will still cost $3,500 annually, 10 times the price of the same drugs in countries like Brazil, India and Thailand. China has said it will not manufacture generic drugs out of "respect for intellectual property rights," even though the World Trade Organization last month quite explicitly voted to permit countries with public health emergencies to circumvent patents.

Still, World AIDS Day did produce significant firsts in China. A prime-time soap opera about a businessman who contracted HIV from a prostitute debuted and featured some of China's most popular actors. And the government gave editors at smaller publications license to focus upon the AIDS epidemic among farmers in central China who sold their blood to the underground blood market.

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