Cannot lower the guard against AIDS

Thursday marks the 35th World AIDS Day. It's been 41 years since the deadliest epidemic known to mankind was detected. According to World Health Organization data, in 2021 the human immunodeficiency virus infected 1.5 million people and 650,000 people died after contracting AIDS globally; that is almost one death per minute. The total number of AIDS patients reached 38.4 million by the end of last year.

Compared to its share of the global population, the percentage of infections in China is quite low. In 2021, China reported 60,154 new AIDS cases and 19,623 deaths, very low when compared to the numbers elsewhere in the world. It is fair to say that China has managed to control this epidemic well, as it has done with other major epidemics.

That kind of control would not have been possible without various departments taking adequate measures, of which mention must be made of effective control of drug abuse. Unlike certain Western countries that are often legalizing the use of certain drugs, such as cannabis, in China there is a ban on the use of narcotic substances. Stopping people from taking drugs in China has helped cut a major source of AIDS.

Also, in the past 20 years, a program of cutting mother-child infection alone has saved 16,000 babies from getting infected with HIV.Now, AIDS patients can have children that are not born infected.

However, one cannot lower the guard with regard to a disease that has claimed 19,623 lives in China in 2021 alone. More importantly, according to the National Health Commission, 3,000 more infections among those aged 15-24 years are reported every year; the number of elderly patients is also rising.

It is necessary to improve sex education to control AIDS. Youngsters need to be taught about having protected sex. It won't be possible to prevent this deadly disease unless everyone takes proper measures.