Guangdong to introduce favorable policies for AIDS patients

Guangdong plans to include its HIV and AIDS patients in the province's basic living allowance scheme and further protect their interests in the following years.

The province's department of finance has been urged to introduce effective and concrete measures to help children from AIDS/HIV families finish their high-school education, according to the province's Action Plan for Preventing and Controlling Aids during the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15), which was published over the weekend.

Meanwhile, children from AIDS/HIV families will be offered psychosocial counseling to ensure they grow up in a healthy way, the document said.

The plan was introduced after the number of AIDS patients and HIV carriers in the province saw steady growth in recent years.

Sexual activity has become the major channel for the spread of the disease.  More than 65 percent of AIDS patients and HIV carriers are infected via sexual relations.

Guangdong is expected to be able to bring the fast growing number of AIDS patients and HIV carriers under control in 2015, the action plan document said.

Data from the provincial department of health revealed that Guangdong, which borders the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, has more than 30,000 HIV/AIDS patients.