The Yunnan governor vowed to spend more in advocating the prevention of AIDS this year, China News Service reported today.

"The government will publicize more information about AIDS to ensure everyone knows the danger of the deadly disease," said citing Xu Rongkai. "The officials in charge of the issue will lose their jobs if problems happen in the areas they are responsible for."

Yunnan suffers most from the AIDS virus among all Chinese provinces, partly because of its location near the "Golden Triangle," one of the world's major drug production bases. Many AIDS patients and HIV virus carriers are drug addicts there.

To date, 37,042 people in the province are known HIV carriers. Experts estimated that the real amount of carriers exceeds 80,000.

Xu said the government will try its best to further stop the spread of AIDS.

Last year, the province and the United States launched a foundation for AIDS prevention.

The province has set up an inspection system on AIDS, and more people are becoming aware of the disease. It has increased the condom use in 98.8 percent of hotels and entertainment venues and set up organizations for 266 orphans, whose parents died of AIDS, to go to school.

(Shanghai Daily February 21, 2006)