Measures to Help AIDS Patients Will be Implemented, Says Chinese Premier

New measures to help citizens living with HIV/AIDS obtain affordable drug treatment, get fair job treatment and education chances will be implemented soon, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has vowed. China's State Council would send inspection teams to regions having high HIV/AIDS prevalence to oversee the implementation of government policies, he added.

Jiabao promised that the Chinese Government would increase financial aid to families suffering from AIDS, Xinhua reports.

The Chinese Government is also working on measures to help children orphaned by AIDS, to ensure basic standard of living, equal education opportunities and accessible medical treatment, he added.

An HIV carrier, Xiao Qing, said the discrimination meted out to HIV people have made their life tough

"Many HIV carriers are treated unfairly when looking for jobs and are even declined by hospitals when they need medical treatment. We desire equal treatment to live a life with dignity," Qing said.

A senior physician, Zhao Qingxia said some doctors and nurses are reluctant to treat AIDS due to the fear being infected.

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She added that there was no mechanism to protect the rights of medical workers who were often exposed to blood-borne infectious diseases.

About 780,000 people would be suffering from AIDS in China by the end of 2011, the country's Health Ministry said.

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Source-ANI