Man claims compensation for HIV error

Source: China.org

A man in central China's Henan Province is seeking 2 million yuan (US$305,000) compensation for being wrongly diagnosed with HIV/AIDS.

Yang Shoufa, 53, from Zhenping County, was diagnosed during a provincial-wide check in 2004, during which more than 280,000 people were tested. It was not until 2012 that he found out the diagnosis was wrong.

"Yang's CD4 T cells were higher than other AIDS patients, but it never raised any concerns, no one doubted his diagnosis," said Zhu Qian, director of the HIV/AIDS prevention institute in Henan.

At the time of the diagnosis, Yang did have some health problems. "I had donated blood once and then I suffered from repeated fever, so when they told me I had AIDS, I was convinced. I thought it was my destiny," he said.

Zhenping health authority and the township government are now discussing a compensation plan for Yang. More

26/5/2016

The Unintended Effects of Global Health Initiatives on HIV/AIDS NGOs in China

Source: BRYN MAWR

From 2007 to 2011, Casey Miller spent 17 months in Northwest China examining the consequences two of the biggest global health initiatives, the Global Fund and the Gates Foundation, have had on NGOs engaged in HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment in the area. The results of his research were recently published in Medical Anthropology Quarterly.

In conducting his research, Miller spent most days and nights at the office of a community-based gay men’s NGO helping with daily office tasks and taking part in community outreach activities in local gay meeting places such as bars, bathhouses, and cruising areas in public parks. He also attended and documented meetings between the NGO and government officials from district, regional, and provincial offices of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. “Although many AIDS NGOs in China and elsewhere remain severely under-resourced, depending on how it is administered and distributed increased foreign funding can sometimes create as many problems as it resolves,” says Miller. More

28/5/2016

Make HIV-prevention drug accessible to Hong Kong public, says Aids Concern

Source: South China Morning Post

A pill offering at-risk individuals protection against HIV should be made publically accessible and included as one of the city’s key interventions for fighting the virus, says local health group Aids Concern.

The drug regimen, called pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP, can lower the chances of getting HIV from sex by over 90 per cent and from injecting drugs by over 70 per cent if taken daily, according to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The regimen uses a drug called Truvada that is licensed in the city to treat HIV, the virus that can lead to Aids. More

28/5/2016

Chinese detergent maker apologizes for harm done by racist ad

Source: Los Angeles Times

A Chinese laundry detergent maker apologized for the harm caused by the spread of an ad in which a black man “washed” by its product was transformed into a fair-skinned Asian man.

Shanghai Leishang Cosmetics Ltd. Co. said it strongly shuns and condemns racial discrimination but blamed foreign media for amplifying the ad, which first appeared on Chinese social media in March but was halted after it drew protests this week following media reports.

“We express regret that the ad should have caused a controversy,” the statement issued late Saturday read. “But we will not shun responsibility for controversial content.”

“We express our apology for the harm caused to the African people because of the spread of the ad and the over-amplification by the media,” the company said. “We sincerely hope the public and the media will not over-read it.”