As the world's AIDS Day, which falls on December 1, is around the corner,
Beijing on Sunday revved up its anti-AIDS campaign by organizing a range of
activities to improve the general public's awareness of the killer disease.
The activities include a five-km run along the Chang'an Avenue from downtown
Beijing's Xidan Cultural Plaza to the Millennium Altar in western Beijing, a
mass consulting service with participation of a dozen medical organizations
including the Beijing disease control center and You'an Hospital, as well as
release of Chinese-version brochures, entitled "Act Now", bearing speeches of
leaders from Asian countries and Pacific regions on combating AIDS.
Henke Bekedam, the World Health Organization Representative in Beijing, and
Jin Dapeng, director of the Beijing Municipal Health Bureau, were present at the
Xidan Cultural Plaza, the start or central point of Sunday's activities.
Beijing has launched a three-step campaign to curb the spreading of AIDS
since the latter half of the year, including issue of condoms in public places,
methadone maintenance therapy, and establishment of the government-funded needle
exchange programon an experimental basis.
The municipal government has also promised to provide economically poor AIDS
patients with free medicine, and their children will be exempted from paying
tuition fees.
The main theme of this year's World AIDS Day features "paying attention to
women and fighting against AIDS/HIV".
