By Hou Ye

This week, China’s State Council published its 12th Five Year Action Plan of China HIV/AIDS Control, Prevention and Treatment. The new plan lays out an assessment of HIV/AIDS in China and government strategy to combat the epidemic.

The plan states that sex has become the main vector of HIV transmission and that the epidemic among men who have sex with men (MSM) has increased significantly. Spousal transmission has also increased. In the areas lacking
prevention of mother-to-child transmission efforts (PMTCT) are not conducted, the rates of mother-to-child transmission are high.

The action plan sets ambitious goals for 2015: increase interventions for key affected populations (KAPS, including sex workers, people using drugs, and MSM) to 90 percent, increase the distribution of condoms, and increase numbers of pregnant women taking HIV tests to 80 percent. However, though it makes a strong statement about the importance of efforts to decrease the rate of new infections, HIV-related mortality, and social stigma and discrimination, the plan unfortunately fails to tackle those problems from a human rights angle.

For example, in a section titled “Prevention and Control Measures,” the plan states that sex work is a crime, and calls for continuing a national “Strike-Hard” campaign against sex work. Specific measures to address the epidemic among MSM are even hardly mentioned. Based on Asia Catalyst’s experience of working with groups from marginalized communities in China, unless steps are taken to fulfill the rights to employment and treatment for KAPs such as male/female sex workers, people using drugs, and MSM, it will be difficult to make the prevention and control of the epidemic among those populations anything other than words on paper.

However, the good news in this action plan is that it recognizes the important role community groups play on the front line of the epidemic. Thus, the plan’s recommendations include: “Increase the grant, technical support and other resources for community-based organizations to enable them to implement their control and prevention work. Support the registration of social groups and enhance the Ministry of Health’s performance of its duties as supervising unit (主管单位) of social groups.”

In the light of these government recommendations, we call on the Ministry of Health to include more groups from marginalized communities such as sex workers, people using drugs, and MSM in HIV/AIDS programming. As those directly affected, they have the most comprehensive connection with their communities and a deep understanding of their communities’ real needs.

The full text (CHINESE) of the 12th Five Year Action Plan of China HIV/AIDS Control, Prevention and Treatment. 

Hou Ye is a program assistant at Asia Catalyst.