Chinas HIV Crisis

3 Pages 627 Words

Chinas HIV Crisis

The Article China’s HIV Crisis (Bates Gill, Jennifer Chang, and Sarah Palmer (2002) “China’s HIV Crisis” Foreign Affairs 81(2): (March/April 2002)) proved to be an eye opener on many issues that were not really focused on in the global fight against HIV/AIDS. It discussed in great details the instability in Chinese health care, the causes of such a huge epidemic in the nation, and the proposed solutions for the struggling nation. China is a country that until recently was under strict rule and little freedoms were allowed to its people. Then with the embrace of gaige kaifang (reform and opening) many new “freedoms” have been opened up to the people. There is a rise in wealth and living standards, but also an increase in political unrest and crime. (Bates 96). One of the most challenging problems that have risen in China is the sky rocking rates of HIV infections within the nation’s population and their inability to control its causes and effects.
Many factors are contributing to the problem. Political change in China has made it easier for people to move away from their original homes to cities in the hopes of making more money. Usually what ends up happening is the citizens that move to the city are forced to take lower end jobs and receive no aid with housing, education and health care (Bates 98). This group is at high risk to be IV drug
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users, and there is an estimated four million prostitutes in China (100). This level of high risk activity is one of the major components in the spread of this disease. The mixing of classes such as the prostitutes and the higher class business men has led to the heterosexual population at an extremely high risk for the potential exposure to the disease. Most people are exposed without any knowledge and the virus is spreading rapidly through the nation. Another potential cause of the increasing numbers is the faulty medical practices of the undergr...