The State Council is going to adopt a regulation on HIV/AIDS prevention and control, Vice Health Minister Wang Longde said Wednesday.

 

"The State Council has approved the regulation and will promulgate it soon," Wang said at a news conference.

 

"The regulation specifies the responsibilities of governments at various levels and the rights and obligations of people living with HIV as well as AIDS patients," Wang said.

 

It also lays down rules for running the national HIV/AIDS prevention and control system and testing system, and sets out measures for the treatment of people living with HIV/AIDS.

 

Wang said poor awareness and failure to implement the government's policy in some parts of the country are challenging the HIV/AIDS prevention and control in China.

 

AIDS publicity and intervention measures for high-risk groups and the migrant population should be strengthened, he said.

 

China currently has about 650,000 people living with HIV/AIDS including about 75,000 AIDS patients, according to a newly issued report.

 

The number of people living with HIV/AIDS in China stood at 840,000 in 2003, because the number of commercial blood sellers was overestimated at that time.

 

(Xinhua News Agency January 26, 2006)