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Health Blog Q&A: Bill Gates on AIDS Prevention in China
Posted by Marilyn Chase
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is entering a partnership with the Chinese government to fight HIV infection among China’s urban drug users, prostitutes and gay men. The venture, backed by $50 million in grants from the foundation, is the result of years of personal diplomacy by Microsoft founder Bill Gates (pictured) to surmount bureaucratic hurdles and societal skittishness about AIDS. To read more about the announcement, see this article from the WSJ.
The Health Blog got the chance to ask Gates for more details. Highlights of the conversation follow.
Why China? And why now?
China has a fantastic opportunity to prevent a widespread AIDS epidemic by stepping up prevention efforts now. China’s leaders acknowledge the scope of the problem, and I believe they are trying to do the right things. To succeed, however, they need international support, encouragement and technical assistance, and that’s what prompted us to step forward and offer our help.
What did you learn on your trips there? What did you see there that moved you?
Earlier this year, I visited an HIV prevention program in Beijing that’s doing the right things–reaching out to people with HIV, which in China often means men who have sex with men, sex workers and drug users. I had the chance to sit down with several groups of people. They were really honest, and told me about the challenges they face in accessing services as well as the life-changing benefits they’ve received, such as methadone maintenance therapy. It was encouraging to see local government officials and health workers sitting together with those infected and talking so forthrightly about the importance of fighting AIDS, and not shying away from tough subjects like prostitution and drug use. I was really impressed by this.
But this program served just one urban district in a country of one billion people. If China is going to prevent a widespread AIDS epidemic, programs like these need to be replicated throughout the country.
What can your team bring to the effort?
We’ve learned a lot from Avahan, our HIV prevention program in India. In particular, we’ve learned how to facilitate strong cooperation between government agencies and community organizations. Stigma is a big problem in both countries, just as it is most places, and we’ve learned how to help communities address that. In China, we will also be able to contribute technical expertise, particularly with Ray Yip leading our team there.
What different about the situation in China?
China’s epidemic isn’t necessarily unique from a medical perspective – other countries also face AIDS epidemics that are concentrated among high-risk groups but threaten to spread to the general population. What’s remarkable is how in just a few years, the government stopped overlooking HIV/AIDS and instead made it a top national priority. That’s exciting, and it presents a real opportunity to make a large-scale, lasting impact.
Why do you expect these fairly modest grants to have an effect here?
The fight against AIDS in China is already well underway. The Chinese government and other funders are providing major support, and they’ll continue to bear primary responsibility for delivering prevention and treatment.
We can make a difference by focusing our support on one of the most challenging, but most important areas – reaching high-risk groups with HIV prevention services. We’re going to use our experience from India to help the government and NGOs build effective programs and partnerships to reach these groups.
Isn’t China’s sensitivity to non-governmental organizations a hurdle?
It’s a challenge, since civil society isn’t as well-established in China as in some other countries. The government leaders we’re working with understand that they won’t succeed unless they work together with NGOs, and a big part of our project will focus on helping to forge these partnerships and make them work.
Finally, how much were you influenced by China’s large and growing role as an economic power (and obviously, a software market)?
China is certainly an important player in the global economy, and a widespread AIDS epidemic would threaten that growth. But the foundation’s involvement is based on humanitarian, not economic, concerns. 本人已认领该文编译，48小时后若未提交译文，请其他战友自由认领。 2007年11月13日，下午5时22分
健康博客访谈录：比尔盖茨论中国艾滋病防治工作
玛丽莲•恰丝发布
比尔和梅林达盖茨基金会与中国政府在严厉打击中国城市吸毒者、妓女和男同性恋者艾滋病毒感染方面成为合作伙伴。合作达成后，基金会将提供了5000万美元赠款，这也是微软公司(Microsoft)创建者比尔•盖茨(Bill Gates)多年来个人外交努力的成果，他一直在努力克服官僚作风和社会对艾滋病的偏见。要阅读该声明的更多内容，请看华尔街日报。
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作者:admin@医学,生命科学 2011-04-07 17:16
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