WUHAN, Sept. 7 (Xinhuanet) - The Chinese government remarkably increased its budget for HIV/AIDS prevention and control annually, according to the China's Population and Development Country Reportwhich was issued Tuesday.

    The report said in 2001, the central government substantially increased its budget for HIV/AIDS prevention and control annually from 15 million yuan (1. 81 million US dollars) to 100 million yuan (12.09 million US dollars). In 2003, this allocation jumped again to 390 million yuan (47.16 million US dollars). In 2001, 1.25 billion yuan (150 million US dollars) from national bonds, combined with 1 billion yuan (120 million US dollars) in matching funds from local governments, were contributed to the constructionof blood banks and equipment purchase in the central and western parts of China.

    The report said the government has created an express path to expedite the examination and approval of imported anti-retroviral drugs as well as for relevant pharmaceutical research and development, and it has granted duty-free clearance for imported anti-retroviral drugs.

    Since mid-1990s, the HIV/AIDS epidemic in China has been increasing dramatically. According to the initial analysis of a national epidemiological survey conducted in 2003, there are 840,000 people living with HIV/AIDS, of whom 80,000 are AIDS patients.

    The number of HIV-infected people in China has ranked the second in Asia and the fourteenth in the world. In terms of the expected pattern of HIV transmission and spread of infection, the epidemic in China is on the verge of wide proliferation from high-risk populations to the general population.

    It is estimated that, without effective measures of prevention and treatment, the total figure of the HIV/AIDS infected in China would possibly reach 10 million by 2010. China faces a severe situation. The report said in 2005, China expects that 100 percentof middle schools and universities will have incorporated prevention and control of HIV/AIDS into the curriculum.

    People's awareness and knowledge about HIV/AIDS prevention should be significantly improved in both rural and urban areas, especially among most vulnerable groups. There will be progress inremoving the stigma attached to HIV/AIDS that impedes public understanding and participation in the solutions to the epidemic.

    The report said work on HIV/AIDS Comprehensive Care and Treatment Pilots should be done in a down-to-earth way. Currently,the 127 County Community-based Comprehensive China Cares Pilot sites basically include larger counties with high levels of HIV/AIDS infection or great danger of the spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in China. Key areas and even HIV/AIDS prevalence across the country should be under control through comprehensive prevention and treatment efforts.

    The report said there is a need to strengthen research and development of anti-retroviral drugs, to strengthen the medical assistance for HIV/AIDS treatment and care and to strengthen capacity to provide AIDS patients with free anti-retroviral drugs.Enditem