December 1 is World AIDS Day and people in China living with HIV/AIDS – men, women and children – are now able to receive more medical help than ever before due to international pressures that were placed on China a few years ago. China has had to change the way it perceived HIV/AIDS. But figures show that there has been a rise in HIV infection rates in the country, especially in the province of Guangdong.

A Student Signing an Aids Ribbon in Support of the Cause – Source: Rex Pe

In Guangzhou, queer groups like Zhi Tong China, PFLAG China and AIDS Relief Fund for China (ARFC) are shedding light on the stigma and the double-discrimination that many gay men living with HIV/AIDS face, by providing outreach programs, open forums and simultaneous webcasts classrooms across the country.

Social education

Beibei Ye, director of Zhi Tong China, says that five years ago, the HIV rates in China among gay men or men who sleep with men were not as high as today. Many of the new cases are now found in first-tier cities.

After completing his eight-year HIV training prevention program in Xi’an, Ye moved to Guangzhou to start an outreach program to help combat myths that many believe about HIV/ AIDS. His team of volunteers go out every Friday and Saturday to Guangzhou’s People’s Park to hand out condoms and pamphlets – the only program of its kind in the city where they are at the frontline of HIV prevention; compared to other queer groups where they only discuss safe sex and health matters online.

Ryan Law is head of Zhi Tong’s HIV outreach program. Handing out condoms is his way of initiating a conversation. Most people accept them and with that, Law proceeds with follow-up discussions regarding HIV/AIDS and HIV testing centers. “Some of them know but others have misconceptions of this test,” he said.  

For Humphrey Wou, HIV testing in China is abrasive, intimidating and humiliating. His organization, AIDS Relief Fund for China (ARFC), has provided a more comfortable solution by creating community-based rapid testing centers. Questionnaires are less intrusive when it comes to asking personal questions and the tone of approach is more sympathetic, since the 30-minute test is conducted by queer community groups themselves. 20 groups in 30 cities throughout China are now up and running, with varying degrees of development.

Conflicting reports

Depending on which organization you talk to, the exact percentage of people infected with HIV are inconsistent. Unreported cases, failure to disclose one’s HIV status, or one’s sexual orientation on paper have been the main reasons why it seems that China’s Centre for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) has provided a lower percentage of people infected with HIV compared to Wou’s findings. His teams have found that the actual number could be double that which the Chinese CDCs initially claimed it to be. 

According to Wou, gay men or men who have sex with men, have the highest infection rates compared to other demographics such as drug-users, farmers who sell blood in the countryside, women and children.

Ah Qiang is executive director of PFLAG China; an organization that helps parents to have an open communication with their gay or lesbian children. PFLAG China regularly conducts discussions at its Guangzhou headquarter where many young men and women describe their coming out stories and the discrimination that they face. It is, however, even more discriminatory when one is infected with HIV. “For the parents, this is difficult when their children are HIV-positive. They are victims of double discrimination,” he said.

In one case in Nanning, Qiang described a young gay man who was given 1,500 RMB in cash and was asked by his father to leave the house. The father feared that his son might infect those around him. Qiang also revealed that finding a parent willing to admit to any Chinese media that their gay son is HIV-positive is impossible, contrary to Hong Kong’s TVB network where they broadcast people living with HIV/AIDS through their public service announcements (PSA). 

Medicine, medical insurance companies and masking the problem

China’s CDCs are found in each district of a city and are responsible for handling HIV cases. A medical card is then issued to patients newly infected with HIV and can be used to receive free medication from selected governmental hospitals, such as the one found at Guangzhou’s 8th People’s Hospital.

The initial treatments are just the essentials, yet follow-up care programs are given differently at each testing center. According to Wou, for every 10 newly HIV cases, about half of them disappear after going to government-run organizations; but at ARFC’s rapid testing centers, Wou said rapid testing has a 90 percent retention rate.

Another problem is the lack of support from medical insurance companies. Only a handful of companies in China are willing to provide medical coverage. Financial backing from these companies are only possible if people infected by HIV state their pre-existing medical conditions when applying for medical insurance, according to one independent study.

Saving face is a common cultural behavior among people in China and has fuelled the problem for people living with HIV/AIDS. Wou said using pseudonyms and wearing masks are often encouraged by some HIV/AIDS support groups, while other similar groups argue that it is discriminatory towards people living with HIV/AIDS.

Organizations:

1) Zhi Tong China (Guangzhou Office)

Add: Suite 2208 Dimeige, Jingdi Building, No. 50 Tai Xing Street, Yangji Village, Zhongshan 1 Road, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou
广州市越秀区中山一路杨箕村泰兴直街50号,金迪大厦迪美阁2208室
Tel: 020 8736 2210
Email: guangzhou@chiheng.org
Website: www.chiheng.org
Getting there: Take subway Line 1 or 5 to Yangji Station, Exit B

2) AIDS Relief Fund for China

Tel (China): (86) 133 7017 1153
Email: info@arfcusa.org
Website: http://www.arfcusa.org

3) PFLAG China (Guangzhou Headquarter)

Add: Suite 2401, 175, Hui Xiang Ge, Xianglong Garden, Tianhe District, Guangzhou
地址: 广东省广州巿天河区175号祥龙花园晖祥阁2401
Tel: 020 3846 2399
Email: qinyouhui@163.com
Website: www.pflag.org.cn
Getting there: Take subway Line 3 to Linhe West Station, Exit B

Hospital and CDCs:

1) Guangzhou’s 8th People Hospital

Add: 627 East Dongfeng Road, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou
地址: 广州市越秀区东风东路627号
Tel: 020 8383 8688
Website: http://www.gzidh.com/ (in Chinese)
Getting there: Take bus No. 27, 54, 56, 62a, 62, 284, 293 or 305 to Shiba Hospital（市八医院） stop

2) China Centre for Diseases Control and Prevention

Add: 155 Changbai Lu, Changping District, Beijing
地址: 北京市昌平区昌百路155号
Tel: 12320
Email: web@chinacdc.cn
Website: http://www.chinacdc.cn/en/
Getting there: Take the Changping Line to Nanshao station, then take bus No. Chang 28 (昌28) to Liuxingbing Shengwu Yanjiusuo (流行病生物研究所) stop

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Keywords: HIV/AIDS in China Queer Groups in China Working on AIDS Issues.