Coordinated actions key for progress in AIDS fight

The State Council, or the Cabinet, released its fourth five-year national action plan for HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment on Sunday, outlining the challenges the country faces in the fight against this deadly disease and providing guidelines for targeted actions at both official and grassroots levels.

While the national prevalence of HIV is low, at 0.06 percent according to the World Health Organization, it is concentrated in specific areas and populations.

Among the worsening problems is the increasing number of sexually transmitted infections in men as a result of male-to-male sexual transmission, and the fast-increasing rate of infections among young people. The infection rate among 15- to 24-year-olds increased 13 percent a year on average from 2011 to 2015, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Another worry is the number of people who are not aware of their HIV status, which is estimated at about 32 percent of the total number of people living with HIV, which makes it difficult to provide effective prevention and treatment services and increases the risk of further transmission of the virus.

To tackle these problems head-on, the action plan sets several specific targets, such as increasing HIV/AIDS prevention awareness to over 85 percent of residents and using education to reduce AIDS-related homosexual behavior by at least 10 percent by 2020.

Related departments are required to promote targeted education to increase public awareness of the disease among key groups, such as the migrant population, teenagers, the elderly, overseas workers and people in detention.

Efforts are also called for to crack down on illegal activities that are closely related to the transmission of the virus, including prostitution, drug abuse and drug trafficking.

However, for these initiatives to achieve their purpose requires better coordination among the different government departments.

For instance, the action plan rightly promotes the use of condoms, a proven effective way to prevent the transmission of the virus and other sexually transmitted diseases. Yet there is still no easy access to condoms at public places in many parts of the country or their use is often ignored.

Also, while raising awareness of the disease, more needs to be done to tackle the discrimination against those infected with the disease, as this stops many from getting tested for the virus.

The fight against HIV/AIDS remains complex and dynamic, and to succeed requires leadership to coordinate the necessary efforts of government and society. The action plan provides a blueprint that can be translated into real progress.