Provincial publicity officials at a workshop in Beijing have been urged to promote more accurate and balanced HIV/AIDS reporting and not neglect the human side of the disease.

The two-day workshop, which began yesterday, was organized by the AIDS Prevention Committee of the State Council and the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

Publicity officials from China's 28 municipalities, provinces and autonomous regions attended lectures by Tsinghua University professors and other government officials.

"This training course for national publicity officials has broken new ground," said Dong Junshan, deputy director of the Publicity Department. "Publicity officials at all levels should make HIV/AIDS reporting a priority and combat discrimination against AIDS sufferers. Publicity is essential in the fight against HIV/AIDS."

He said good HIV/AIDS reporting should be detailed and rooted in reality. Empty cliches should be avoided at all costs.

As well as accurate, "HIV/AIDS reports must be attractive and compelling for local readers - forms like literature and movies can be used."