Working in Kunming and Contracting the Disease - Haven't Returned Home for Years
At the age of 49, to support his son's university education, Old Li resigned from his position as a village cadre in his hometown and came to Kunming to work. At the age of 59, he was diagnosed with AIDS in Kunming. Since being confirmed with the disease, medical expenses have already exceeded ten thousand yuan, and Old Li, who hasn't returned to his hometown for three or four years, said that his family has never dared to tell anyone back home about what illness he had contracted. "At my age, I could still do some things, but now I can't do anything and am even a burden to my children," Old Li said, covering his head with both hands, on the verge of tears.
Resigning from His Position as Village Cadre
Working to Support His Son’s University Education
In the afternoon yesterday, at the Yunnan Infectious Diseases Specialty Hospital (Yunnan AIDS Care Center), within the infectious diseases department, accompanied by his son, Old Li slowly walked into an idle doctor's office and sat down in front of the reporter. His face was sallow, his hair gray, and he spoke very little, basically answering one question at a time.
Ten years ago, Old Li resigned from his job as a village cadre in his hometown and came to Kunming to work to support his son's university education. Around the Mid-Autumn Festival this year, Old Li often felt severe headaches, and then his right leg became uncontrollable. He went to the First People's Hospital of Yunnan Province, where doctors initially suspected a tumor based on his symptoms. After the blood test results came out, however, Old Li received an unexpected result: HIV preliminary screening positive. The doctor suggested he go to the provincial CDC for a recheck. After the National Day holiday, Old Li received the recheck results, confirming that he had contracted AIDS and was already in the onset stage. Old Li didn’t know what HIV was; even after the doctor told him he had AIDS, he still had little understanding of the disease. However, soon enough, his family found out about this taboo disease.
"Our fellow townspeople also work in Kunming, and if they find out about this disease, with so many people talking, we don’t know what they would say," said Old Li's eldest son. From the moment AIDS was detected, they declined all visits from relatives and friends, only telling them it was a minor issue, and they would return in a few days. Currently, treatment has achieved some effects. However, the improvement in his condition did not bring them any joy. "This disease requires lifelong medication," said Little Li, who always referred to AIDS indirectly as "this disease" whenever he mentioned it.
Suspected Infection from Intravenous Infusion at Small Clinics
Haven't Returned Home for Three or Four Years
Old Li is from another province. Ten years ago, to support his child’s university education, he resigned from his long-held position in the village committee and followed his fellow townspeople to Kunming to work. Now, his children are all married and have six or seven grandchildren. Regarding any personal information involving him, Little Li repeatedly urged the reporter to use a pseudonym and not directly disclose his occupation or hometown address, "Because there are many of our fellow townspeople working here. Once they see the newspaper, it will be easy for them to guess."
When asked about possible reasons for contracting "this disease," Old Li said that his body had always been healthy, without any experience of blood transfusions or surgeries. Only at the beginning of this year, due to toothache, he received intravenous infusions at some small clinics in the urban villages. Old Li recalled that the doctor seemed to use disposable needles. Additionally, when the toothache became severe, the doctor used pliers and other tools to help repair his teeth.
"My body has always been good. I got my first injection at the age of 23, and only started receiving intravenous infusions after coming to Kunming," Old Li said, "Intravenous infusion is a kind of high-level enjoyment, something that didn't exist in the countryside in the past." Sexual transactions? Old Li firmly denied it. "It is strictly forbidden in our hometown." Old Li thought hard but couldn't figure out why he had contracted AIDS.
Little Li said that when he first learned that his father had contracted AIDS, he couldn't accept it either, unable to believe that such a disease could happen to his 59-year-old father. "With thoughts like these, there's no way around it. Since it happened, we can only face it and continue treatment," said Little Li. Nowadays, only the family knows about his father's condition. His younger brother took a long leave from out of province and came to take care of their father together with him.
"Of course, I can't understand it. You say, at my age, I should still be able to do something, but now I can't do anything, and I keep spending money," said Old Li, covering his head with both hands, then raising his head to look out the window. Old Li said that he wanted to return home for the New Year this year. It had been three or four years since he last returned, and he wanted to visit his relatives and friends.
Over 68,000 People Have Died from AIDS in China
According to Xinhua News Agency, Beijing
The Ministry of Health reported on the situation of the AIDS epidemic and prevention work in China yesterday. As of the end of October 2010, a cumulative total of over 370,000 cases of HIV infection and patients were reported, including over 130,000 patients, and over 68,000 deaths.
The report from the Ministry of Health shows that in recent years, AIDS has presented three characteristics: First, the increase in AIDS cases has somewhat decreased; Second, sexual transmission has become the main mode of transmission, with a significant rise in male homosexual transmission; Third, the epidemic is serious in certain regions and specific groups. Yunnan, Guangxi, Henan, Sichuan, Xinjiang, and Guangdong provinces collectively account for 77.1% of the total number of reported infections and patients nationwide.
Distributing Condoms to Students
Controversy Surrounding a Chengdu Middle School
According to Xinhua News Agency Chengdu,
On November 29th, to promote AIDS prevention knowledge, Chengdu No. 49 Middle School distributed "Red Ribbon Gift Bags" containing AIDS prevention materials to all teachers and students. Among the items prepared for the school's 14 Red Ribbon volunteers and all the teachers included condoms. The school hoped to promote AIDS prevention knowledge to parents through the students. The school's moral education teacher Luo Xiaoxiang said that he never expected that such an ordinary matter would cause a big stir among the parents. "In the open network world, the sexual knowledge children gain from the internet is much more than adults imagine."
One out of Every Ten Homosexual Men is Infected with AIDS
At the Provincial Infectious Diseases Hospital, Old Li is just one of the more than 90 AIDS patients currently undergoing treatment. Within the hospital's infectious diseases department, a seven-year-old girl from Jianshui County in Honghe Prefecture was infected with AIDS through mother-to-child transmission. Her mother has already passed away due to AIDS. The child's grandmother said that on August 16th of this year, the child was preliminarily screened positive for HIV at Gejiu Children's Hospital, and then rushed to Kunming, where she was confirmed at the provincial CDC. After 41 days of hospitalization and treatment at the provincial infectious diseases hospital, her condition stabilized, and the child returned home with her grandmother to continue taking medication. Last Saturday, due to fever and diarrhea, the child could not eat anything and was readmitted to the provincial infectious diseases hospital. Her condition has now stabilized.
Dr. Wang Xicheng, Director of the Infectious Diseases Department at the Provincial Infectious Diseases Hospital, introduced that among the HIV-infected individuals reported from January to October this year, the rate of infection via sexual transmission reached 71.7%, an increase of 6.7% compared to the same period last year. Among these, the proportion of same-sex transmission is higher than heterosexual transmission. Especially among men who have sex with men, the proportion of HIV-infected individuals increased from 4% in 2005 to 10% this year. This means that almost one out of every ten homosexual men is an HIV-infected individual.
Deputy Director of the Provincial Infectious Diseases Hospital, Li Huiqin, revealed that since the establishment of the infectious diseases department and antiretroviral therapy outpatient clinic in September 2004, the hospital has treated 3,208 severely ill AIDS patients with opportunistic infections, achieving a cure/improvement rate of over 95%. Currently, there are still 1,573 patients under treatment, with the mortality rate controlled below 1.5%.
Li Huiqin disclosed that as of September this year, there are still seven counties in the entire province that have not started antiretroviral treatment for AIDS patients. In the remaining 122 counties (cities, districts), 172 hospitals have conducted free antiretroviral treatment, cumulatively treating 18,103 people, with 1,362 deaths. The current number of people being treated is 15,290, with the case fatality rate controlled below 7.5%. Although some achievements have been made, there is still a gap between reaching the goal of "treating all those who need it."
Living News Daily, Reporter Liu Qiying