- Title: CHINA: Migrant workers targeted in AIDS prevention scheme
- Date: 1st December 2008
- Summary: BEIJING, CHINA (RECENT) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 9. NEWS CONFERENCE ON AIDS PREVENTION 10. JOURNALISTS 11. (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHIEF TECHNICAL ADVISOR FOR HIV/AIDS WORKPLACE EDUCATION PROGRAMME IN INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATION BEIJING OFFICE, RICHARD HOWARD, SAYING: "We have a lot of workers living on site, living in dormitories. And there is entertainment industr
- Embargoed: 16th December 2008 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: China
- Country: China
- Topics: Health
- Reuters ID: LVAEXMDSA5IFPSXJKWOOBCI4XES5
- Story Text: The new face of HIV/AIDS in China is a shy man with a heavy provincial accent, a weathered face and the rough hands of a manual worker.
Millions of Chinese migrant workers, who are among the most vulnerable to HIV/AIDS affection, are the target of a new prevention program cosponsored by the Chinese government and the United Nations.
A short film, called "Hometown Fellowers" will be screened at vocational schools for migrant workers, construction sites and enterprises nationwide in the coming months to promote safe sex and reduce discrimination among migrant workers.
The seven-minute-long black-and-white film features a construction worker who teaches his fellow workers how to use condoms and helps them to understand how the deadly virus is transmitted.
China's construction workers, miners and casual labourers have all the ingredients for HIV to spread. Often far from home, bored, and with some spare cash in their pockets, few of them use condoms when they visit prostitutes as rootless as themselves.
Higher rates of sexually transmitted diseases and other risk factors among male migrants have spurred an intensified effort to reach them before HIV spreads faster among them, and into the broader population.
"We have a lot of workers living on site, living in dormitories.
And there is entertainment industry nearby. They go together and have fun. So our goal is to promote safer behaviours at workplace and work sites. The second issue really is to deal with stigma and discrimination within the workplace, because so many workers now are HIV positive and facing discrimination from both their employers and workers," Richard Howard, chief technical advisor for HIV/AIDS at International Labour Organisation (ILO) Beijing Office, told a news conference when the movie was first released last week.
The film was directed by Cannes Film Festival winner Gu Changwei, who said discrimination and misunderstanding has made prevention more difficult.
"This group of people are, in many cases, being discriminated, marginalised and isolated. This makes the situation even worse because people wouldn't dare to seek help even if they have contracted the disease,"
said Gu Changwei.
Statistics from the Chinese Ministry of Health indicate that migrant workers make up a large portion of the 700,000 reported HIV cases across the country.
China's 200 million migrant workers have been the backbone of its decade-long double digit economic growth, but preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS among them is difficult since they often have no fixed address and little access to health care.
Construction workers are often seen in big cities like Beijing, some of whom say the best way to protect themselves is to stay away from those "dangerous" women.
"You must stay away from these women and keep yourself out of trouble, especially when you are doing migrant work away from home. There are many dark corners now in Beijing. There are always women coming up to you and trying to drag you away," said 38-year-old Liu Guilin from neighbouring Hebei province.
Construction worker Zhang Shiliang is not alone to say that he will cut all contacts with people who are carrying HIV virus. An ILO survey shows eight out of ten migrants would not want to work with a person who is HIV positive.
"I heard that you are doomed if you get AIDS. So if we know someone has got it, we will just stay far away from him and avoid any contact with him," said Zhang.
Prostitution is illegal in China. Banished after the Communist revolution in 1949, it returned with a vengeance in the 1980s when the country embarked upon economic reforms and started opening to the outside world.
Salons and massage parlors have become the most common sites for prostitution in cities.
Half of the prostitutes in Beijing do not ask clients to use condoms, according a government survey, as sexual transmission has replaced intravenous drug use as the main cause of HIV/AIDS, accounting for 54.6 percent of infections. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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