China still faces many challenges in promoting HIV/AIDS knowledge among children and caring for those who are infected by HIV, said Dr. Yin Yin Nwe, Representative of the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) for China.
"China has made a lot of progress in HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. However, it remains a big challenge to make the young people aware of how to protect themselves and how to care for people infected by HIV," Yin Yin Nwe said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua.
"What impresses me the most is that the incredible levels of ignorance and discrimination among the general public," she said, citing a father who forced his son to eat separately from other families after he was infected with HIV.
"They don't know how it's caught, they don't know how AIDS is transmitted, so there is a lot of discrimination against people with AIDS," she said, adding that young people are becoming sexually active at an increasingly younger age.
However, Yin Yin Nwe is "generally very optimistic" about the future of these children despite the challenges because the government is "very committed".
China has taken various measures, including exempting study fees and offering living expenses, to ensure the education for more than 3,000 AIDS orphans (children who became orphans after parents died of AIDS).
Since 2005, China has launched a campaign on treating children with HIV/AIDS, which covers 141 counties and districts in 22 provinces across the country. Up to this October, 805 children with HIV/AIDS have already received medical treatments and 761 are being treated.
Up to now, more than 90 percent of AIDS orphans in the country are financially supported in living and studies and some older children are receiving vocational trainings.
Besides the medical treatments, Yin Yin Nwe also calls for more psychological and nutritional support for HIV-affected children.
Source: Xinhua
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