AIDS Education in China on the Increase in Schools
December 20th, 2006As I am still in China visiting my family there, a news story caught my eye about an ongoing educational issue there: education in public schools about HIV/AIDS. For many years, the government of China has been a bit in denial about the seriousness of this disease in China, and has, in the past, been resistant in education about the virus. Fortunately, that is slowly changing as a matter of necessity.
Not Just a Foreign Problem
Over 650,000 people suffer from HIV/AIDS in China, which works out to about 0.1% of the population. This is still quite a bit lower than the USA’s percentage (0.6%), however when you consider how large the population of China is, and how easily it might spread, this is not to be taken lightly. Furthermore, knowledge of transmission methods and ways to prevent infection is lacking in the more rural parts of China where Western science is not well understood. As recently as the 1990s, China maintained that AIDS was only an outside, foreign problem and only foreigners were required to take AIDS tests. Public health disasters in China, such as unsanitary blood donations, created small outbreaks that spread as citizens remained in the dark about the virus.
China Comes Around, Finally
According to China Daily online, now 80% of middle schools in Beijing are offering HIV-prevention courses—none offered these courses a year ago. China also wrote the country’s first textbook aimed at educating about HIV, which deals with issues as diverse as condoms to online relationships, and has required that six class hours are required every semester in middle school. Surprisingly, part of the education is aimed at countering the current stereotype against people with HIV—it encourages people not to be prejudiced. These changes are all welcome, and important, to a country who is attempting to create a high-quality education system modeled after Western standards.
