EIJING,
Oct. 14 — "China stands on the brink of an explosive AIDS epidemic," the United
Nations secretary general, Kofi Annan, warned in a speech today in Hangzhou as
he began a two-day visit to China. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/15/international/asia/15BEIJ.html
EIJING,
Oct. 14 — "China stands on the brink of an explosive AIDS epidemic," the United
Nations secretary general, Kofi Annan, warned in a speech today in Hangzhou as
he began a two-day visit to China.
The country has "no time to lose" if it is to head off vast social and economic costs from the disease, he said.
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United Nations officials here have pushed Beijing to take heed, warning in a report this summer that 10 million Chinese could be infected by the end of the decade unless more is done. Mr. Annan made his remarks in a speech at Zhejiang University.
China says about a million Chinese are infected with the virus that causes AIDS but says the rate of new infections seems to be falling.
The Health Ministry has said government efforts are helping reduce new infections, citing the supply of low-cost treatments and the cleanup of an unsanitary blood-buying industry that was blamed for infecting thousands of rural villagers.
The government only recently became willing even to discuss the issue, after denying for years that AIDS was a problem.
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