Free herbal therapy will be given to a total of 50 AIDS patients and HIV carriers in Shaanxi Province in the next 12 months.
A document issued by the provincial health department last week said the move will be part of efforts to treat and prevent HIV/AIDS with traditional Chinese medicine.
The free treatment, expected to start by the end of this month, will hopefully reduce pain and enhance the immune system in AIDS patients. It is also hoped that early intervention may postpone or prevent HIV from developing into AIDS, said Yuan Ruihua, deputy director of the provincial administration of traditional Chinese medicine.
"In the coming days we'll obtain a clear picture of how the AIDS patients and HIV carriers are distributed in the province and solicit volunteers who want to try the therapy," Yuan said.
He said the budget for the 12 months is 250,000 yuan (US$30,000). It will cover the herbal therapy and immunity tests for all 50 volunteer patients, as well as training for doctors and nurses.
The Shaanxi Provincial Health Department said 75 new HIV/AIDS infections were reported in the first six months of this year. It brings the province's total to a relatively low 357 patients.
According to the Ministry of Health, there are 840,000 HIV carriers on the Chinese mainland, of whom 80,000 are suffering from AIDS.
Traditional Chinese herbal medicine has proven effective in fighting various viruses and diseases by strengthening the immune system, the target of the human immunodeficiency virus.
Anti-AIDS herbal medicine has been popular in many provinces. Doctors have been trying to alleviate pain among HIV/AIDS sufferers in other developing countries with TCM for nearly 20 years.
(Xinhua)