Overview
- What are the challenges?
- Why field notes?
- Where have we been?
- Guide to Visiting
- Manuscripts
- View notes
What are the challenges?
Several epidemics present different challenges throughout China:
1. Tainted blood in the heart of rural China:
From the late 80's to the mid 90's, China banned the importation of blood and blood products, to prevent the spread of HIV. Tragically, inadequate health education and health regulations resulted in widespread infection from local blood collection efforts. Local blood banks did not observe proper infection controls. In poor rural areas, blood collected from several people was combined in a single container. After the plasma was removed, the mixed blood was injected back into the donors so that they could sell more blood and earn more money. In regions like Henan and Anhui, this practice created a number of AIDS villages where more than half of the population was infected. A majority of the one million AIDS cases reported by China's government are in such villages.
2. Sexual transmission of HIV in the coastal cities:
Since the late 80's, prostitution has exploded in the wealthy areas of China. Many sex workers are women and men from rural areas attempting to find a better life in big cities along the eastern and southern coasts, like Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Xiamen. With little understanding of HIV and AIDS, most sex workers do not ask their clients to use condoms. Other migrant workers, like maids and truck drivers, unknowingly hasten the spread of HIV from these urban centers to smaller towns and villages.
Gay and bisexual men are also becoming infected at an higher rate. As social and legal restrictions on homosexual behavior have been lifted, socialization and sexual contact among gay and bisexual men has increased in many urban centers. Appropriate sexual health education and counseling has not been targeted to these men or their sexual partners. Many of these men identify as heterosexual, and do not use condoms with their female partners. One HIV sero-prevalence research study found that 10% of the gay men tested for HIV in Beijing were HIV positive.
3. Injection drug users in the Golden Triangle and along the Silk Road:
Yunnan and Xinjiang are two provinces where heroin-based drugs are produced and imported. Although heroin is illegal in China, the vastness of these mountainous regions and the great distance from centralized authority make drug law enforcement difficult. Official statistics in China suggest that drug use is the dominant transmission route for HIV, with most cases of new HIV infection (66.5%) being traceable to the sharing of needles among injection drug users.
Like many other Chinese citizens, people living with HIV and AIDS suffer from a lack of adequate, or in some cases, any health care. Proper medical care is hard to come by for those with HIV/AIDS. The hardships of life with HIV result not only from inadequate health care and treatment, but also from discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS.
Why field notes?
Field notes provide a perspective of China that it is not often seen in the mainstream media. Field visits to China and reports from in-country advisors direct our grant-making efforts where they are most needed and most effective.
Where have we been?
ARFC's field team not only visits coastal cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, but also travels to remote villages and rural towns. So far we have visited and/or identified grantees in Henan, Sichuan, Shanxi, Anhui, Zhejiang, Guangxi and Yunnan. We hope to visit the Xinjiang Autonomous Region in the near future.
If You Are Thinking About Going to China…
An Elementary Guide to Visiting the Grassroots Community in China
by Humphrey Wou
Penetrating cultural and language barriers remains the
single most challenging obstacle for those who want to
work directly with China’s grassroots community. I
cannot offer language lessons. However after five
years of visiting China’s NGO community, I have begun
to see patterns in the practices of grassroots
activists. By sharing my observations, I hope that you
may find the process of seeking reliable grantees or
local partners less mystifying.
Read more: html printable pdf
Manuscripts
Based on thorough field research over the course of several years, ARFC's advisor and former board member, Professor Fengshi Wu, recently completed a manuscript on AIDS epidemic and advocacy in China and the role of transnational networks. Select chapters are available for download in PDF:
China's AIDS Epidemic
Social Activism in HIV/AIDS Prevention in China
International Advocacy Actors and Transnational Networks in HIV/AIDS Prevention
View notes from: