Objective 2: "Reduce the burden of HIV/AIDS"
The UN will continue promoting awareness of HIV/AIDS as a national development threat, not purely a medical and health issue that requires a multidisciplinary approach for its prevention and care with a focus on the most vulnerable groups such as the young and the migrant population.
It is currently estimated that at least 500,000 persons are infected with HIV/AIDS in China and the infections are feared to increase exponentially over the next years in many population groups. It is extremely important that China put into place prevention mechanisms with due regard to HIV vulnerability factors so that its prevalence does not reach the high levels of some countries in Africa and Asia where it has had a devastating impact on the development of the country. Over the past ten years, the UN in China has played a significant role with respect to promoting national advocacy, policy and planning in the field of HIV/AIDS. Some progress has been made with regards to AIDS-related political awareness and commitment, as well as in the area of policy and regulations in the field of AIDS prevention. However, there is still a very common tendency in China to regard HIV/AIDS as primarily a medical problem without adequate understanding of its socio-economic determinants, including gender-based behaviour (e.g. unsafe sex, drug abuse and increase in prostitution) and its social and economic impacts. Further efforts are needed to engage government personnel in provinces, counties and cities and the civil society in general.
Raising awareness and commitment - In response, the UN system will advocate engaging a broader range of partners in the field of AIDS prevention and care, and assist the government in the development of a communication strategy to increase public awareness. Partnerships with NGOs who can implement sensitisation activities and community care will be built. The GIPA principle (based on the Paris Declaration which China has signed among 44 countries) will be promoted in order to bring about a rights-based approach to HIV/AIDS prevention and care and the greater involvement of men and women infected or affected by HIV/AIDS, and reflecting this in national legislation. In addition, the UN will provide support for disseminating information on best international practices so that they are available to as large an audience as possible. The information will be used for the design of comprehensive and appealing mass media campaigns, for the prevention of unsafe sex (also including the social marketing of condoms), and reducing HIV vulnerability among injection drug users. Strategic planning approaches based on accurate and gender-sensitive situation analysis will be used to adapt responses to AIDS and other threats to changing situations and to plan for, and implement efficient, affordable, sustainable, equitable and relevant expanded responses.
Improved prevention and care - Furthermore, assistance will be provided to develop a comprehensive surveillance system for HIV/AIDS that will provide decision-makers with accurate data on trends of the epidemic and information on priority areas for allocating resources and funding interventions. The UN will continue its current efforts at capacity building to address the current high incidence of HIV and other blood-borne infections related to paid and frequent blood donation and unsafe blood transfusion. The Theme Group on HIV/AIDS will ensure that the various programmes and projects funded by the UN are well coordinated and that interventions by other donors in this field will work in a complementary fashion to enhance the chances for more effective prevention and care.