China mulls monitoring gays for STDs
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-08-12 19:27
China is considering a plan to monitor gay Chinese, along with truck drivers
for sexually transmitted diseases (STD), in an effort to control the spread of
the AIDS virus, according to health authorities.
The Ministry of Health
is soliciting opinions from local disease control and prevention centers on a
national plan for monitoring STDs, the ministry said.
According to the
plan, monitoring stations will survey and monitor the incidence of STDs among
prostitutes, gays and long-distance drivers and test their knowledge about STDs.
The five sexually transmitted diseases being monitored include
gonorrhea, syphilis and chlamydia trachomatis, human papillomavirus and genital
herpes.
The number of sexually transmitted infections diagnosed in China
is on the rise. China reported 126,400 cases of syphilis in 2005, an increase of
35.79 percent compared with 2004 and 180,300 cases of gonorrhea.
In
China, homosexuality, while no longer officially considered a mental disorder,
is still an off limits subject for many people.
Chinese health
authorities estimate there are 5 million to 10 million gay men in the country
and about 80 percent of them admit to knowing nothing about the spread HIV/AIDS,
according to survey conducted in 2004.
According to a report jointly
released by the Ministry of Health, UNAIDS and the World Health Organization in
January, gay men are a high risk group for contracting the AIDS.
China
reported 75,000 new HIV infections last year.
The monitoring plan
requires local CDCs keep STD data confidential and report it only to the
national CDC.
The provinces or regions with the highest incidence of
STDs are Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shanghai and Jiangxi.
A report on
the situation of STD prevalence in China, released by China's Center for Disease
Control and Prevention under the Ministry of Health says that more infants are
being born with sexually transmitted infections.
Analysts say that this
is mainly because China has a weak monitoring system which fails to timely and
effectively report STDs.
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