China's million shame
Dec. 3rd, 2012 08:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nairiporterSaturday was World AIDS day. Most of the stories about HIV/AIDS are usually focused on the epidemic in Africa, and rightly so. But meanwhile the story of China's one million people who were infected with HIV, remains largely ignored. The case of China is specific in that the disease was not spread so much through sexual contact, but through a blood transfusion scandal that happened in Henan.
Whether the authorities want it or not, the scandal won't go away:
http://www.economist.com/node/21562241
These people went on a protest in Beijing, singing the national anthem, saying they are patriots, but also demanding answers from the authorities. They had the red ribbons on their lapels, showing their solidarity with the AIDS victims. The police, which would otherwise have dispersed them right away, this time refrained from intervening with force, and neither did it attempt to break the protest. Just on the contrary, they were eager to warn any bystanders to stay well away from the protesters... "Beware, those are HIV infected people"! That says a lot.
What they said about the protesters is true, though. These people come from the Henan province in Central China. A rural region south-west of Beijing. Nowadays the name Henan is associated with a HIV scandal of epic proportions. In the mid 90s more than a million poor people were infected with HIV after trusting the local authorities and making blood donations.
Yes, the ones who lured them into the trap was the Chinese state itself, which conducted a big campaign for donating blood plasma as a means for improving the family budget of poor households in the region. So far so good. The blood plasma was being extracted from the donated blood, then the blood was being injected back to the donor. Apparently, that was when all those people were infected with the virus. The consequences were tragic: a huge number of newborn babies came into the world with HIV, and their parents were dying in large numbers due to poor medical care.
But what is worse, China doesn't seem to have drawn its conclusions from this enormous drama. No one was punished. On top of that, lots of illegal blood banks keep operating across China, trading with frozen blood from these donors. People are poorly informed about the threat. And the epidemic is only going to spread more. The official 2011 data states that 780 thousand Chinese citizens are HIV-infected. That's only the official data. Most of these people are poor, they live in horrible conditions, with no access to medical care and medicines, they are discriminated and marginalized from society. There is no hope in sight for them, no one to protect them.
The victims of the Henan fiasco never received any compensation or social aid from the authorities. Various NGOs insist that the state should pay 80 Euros per month for each orphan kid after the death of the parent(s). The authorities clearly do have the financial capability to do this, but they refrain from paying the compensation, because this would mean they are admitting the failure of their bureaucrats, who were never punished after the scandal.
What's more, most of these NGOs which are trying to help the victims, are forced to lead a half-legal existence, since they are a thorn in the ass of the official authorities. They are being denied licenses to operate on the territory of China, and those who are too engaged with the cause of fighting AIDS, often end up in jail - for "undermining the foundations of state power". Such verdicts are wide-spread across China. The pressure and intimidation will not stop, until the international community itself gets actively engaged in this case. And the first step to achieving that is to raise awareness of the problem.
Whether the authorities want it or not, the scandal won't go away:
http://www.economist.com/node/21562241
These people went on a protest in Beijing, singing the national anthem, saying they are patriots, but also demanding answers from the authorities. They had the red ribbons on their lapels, showing their solidarity with the AIDS victims. The police, which would otherwise have dispersed them right away, this time refrained from intervening with force, and neither did it attempt to break the protest. Just on the contrary, they were eager to warn any bystanders to stay well away from the protesters... "Beware, those are HIV infected people"! That says a lot.
What they said about the protesters is true, though. These people come from the Henan province in Central China. A rural region south-west of Beijing. Nowadays the name Henan is associated with a HIV scandal of epic proportions. In the mid 90s more than a million poor people were infected with HIV after trusting the local authorities and making blood donations.
Yes, the ones who lured them into the trap was the Chinese state itself, which conducted a big campaign for donating blood plasma as a means for improving the family budget of poor households in the region. So far so good. The blood plasma was being extracted from the donated blood, then the blood was being injected back to the donor. Apparently, that was when all those people were infected with the virus. The consequences were tragic: a huge number of newborn babies came into the world with HIV, and their parents were dying in large numbers due to poor medical care.
But what is worse, China doesn't seem to have drawn its conclusions from this enormous drama. No one was punished. On top of that, lots of illegal blood banks keep operating across China, trading with frozen blood from these donors. People are poorly informed about the threat. And the epidemic is only going to spread more. The official 2011 data states that 780 thousand Chinese citizens are HIV-infected. That's only the official data. Most of these people are poor, they live in horrible conditions, with no access to medical care and medicines, they are discriminated and marginalized from society. There is no hope in sight for them, no one to protect them.
The victims of the Henan fiasco never received any compensation or social aid from the authorities. Various NGOs insist that the state should pay 80 Euros per month for each orphan kid after the death of the parent(s). The authorities clearly do have the financial capability to do this, but they refrain from paying the compensation, because this would mean they are admitting the failure of their bureaucrats, who were never punished after the scandal.
What's more, most of these NGOs which are trying to help the victims, are forced to lead a half-legal existence, since they are a thorn in the ass of the official authorities. They are being denied licenses to operate on the territory of China, and those who are too engaged with the cause of fighting AIDS, often end up in jail - for "undermining the foundations of state power". Such verdicts are wide-spread across China. The pressure and intimidation will not stop, until the international community itself gets actively engaged in this case. And the first step to achieving that is to raise awareness of the problem.
