Global Fund's AIDS Care China Program began operations Wednesday in central China's Hubei Province, aiming to offer prevention, treatment and care to local HIV carriers and AIDS patients.

This is the largest internationally-cooperative program on AIDS prevention in the province, covering 12 demonstration districts at state and provincial levels, said Sun Changsong, director of the Care Program team.

According to Sun, the epidemic is especially serious in the targeted areas, where HIV carriers, AIDS patients, and AIDS-related deaths all account for more than 70 percent of the province's total.

In the first two years of the five-year cooperative period, the province will get US$5 million from the program, Sun said.

The Global Fund's AIDS Care Program was advocated by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 2001 and is financially supported by the developed countries, including the United States.

So far, China's 58 poverty-stricken counties scattered in seven provinces have benefited from the global program.

(Xinhua News Agency October 2, 2004)