A True Leap Forward: China Community Treatment Preparedness Workshop
Kunming, China: 24 - 27 Sept 2005


The China Community Treatment Preparedness Workshop was held in Kunming, China
from 24 - 27 Sept 2005 organised by a steering committee of thirteen community
advocates with administrative support from the International HIV/AIDS Alliance.
Sponsored by the Tides Foundation, this successful 4-day meeting was attended by
forty-five Chinese participants of which forty were people living with HIV and
AIDS. Sixteen out of China's twenty-eight provinces were represented.

An additional fifteen resource people, presenters and planning committee members
also participated. It was possibly the largest and most geographically diverse
gathering of PLWHA in China ever.

China has moved quickly from its initial pilot programs to provide
antiretroviral treatment to its citizens in 2002. Moving from treatment of a few
hundred people, the government, with Global Fund support, set a target of
treating 30,000 PLWHA by the end of 2005. While this goal was too ambitious and
won't be achieved, there are treatment programs across the country as part of
China's "Four Frees and One Care" program.

The problem is in implementation. Access to programs varies from place to place.
Many PLWHA have dropped out of treatment programs due to a lack of treatment
education and support. There is a need for PLWHA to be able to understand side
effects, adhere to treatment, and find ways to ensure that they can stay on
treatment.

This workshop addressed these issues while aiming to improve treatment programs
in China, stimulate progress in treatment education and advocacy, and empower
and give skills and knowledge to the participants of the meeting.

The meeting is a part of a global program, the Collaborative Fund for
Treatment Preparedness, a collaboration between the International
Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC) and Tides Foundation.

Following the International Treatment Preparedness Summit in Cape Town in 2003,
the need was identified for funding for grassroots treatment education and
advocacy initiatives. Since then, nineteen funders have agreed to fund a
collaboration to provide grants to community based organizations to do treatment
education and advocacy projects in nine regions in the world. Johnston and
Johnston agreed to fund a program specifically for China, and this workshop also
established a process for distributing small grants to PLWHA groups and other
community-based organisations for treatment preparedness for early 2006.

The workshop program included presentations, interactive sessions, and small
group discussions on a broad variety of topics. Day 1 included an introduction
to the Collaborative Fund, ITPC, and Tides Foundation; an overview of China's
national treatment policy, an overview of treatment available in China, an
introduction to the topic of treatment literacy and education, and a discussion
of treatment for children.

Two PLWHA,who have been on treatment for many years each, told their personal
stories of the challenges of adherence and access to treatment.

Day 2 featured presentations on treatment education tools, counseling
skills and models of treatment education which included a discussion of the role
of community and PLWHA in treatment support.

Participants also worked together in groups to report on the status of treatment
access in each province represented at the meeting.

Common problems faced by PLWHA in China include confidentiality issues,
excessive hospital charges for CD4 testing and Opportunistic Infection
treatment, a lack of treatment education, counseling and other information, and
a shortage of qualified medical staff.

On Day 3 there was a report of an advocacy meeting sponsored by Oxfam
that took place in July 2005 with about thirty participants to discuss TRIPS and
the availability of ARVs in China, followed by a discussion of what actions
could be taken to increase access, including negotiations with manufacturers,
and lobbying for the use of compulsory licensing for domestic production.

An example of advocacy was given through a presentation on the experiences of a
haemophiliacs' group.

Day 4 focused on project design, management and implementation with an
additional session on grant writing. The workshop was also about
building community and encouraging networking between participants.

So, the cultural program included a visit to Kunming's one gay bar, a
special dinner featuring a local specialty, Cross-Bridge Rice Noodles, and a
special cultural show from Yunnan with dozens of singing and dancing children,
drumming and light shows, and the amazing "peacock dance."

Zhong Jing describes herself as a joker, but she is serious in her
commitment to responding to AIDS. "I'm very tired but learned so much I want to
know," she said at the workshop's close. "The sessions I found most useful were
on project writing and management." She is currently forming a group for
positive women called "Home of Colour Clouds" in Yunnan.

Perhaps the most exciting achievement of the meeting was the
establishment of a National Treatments Advocacy Network. Workshops
participants elected five people as the steering group to look at
actions in three areas: working with drug companies to lower prices and increase
accessibility of needed HIV drugs, tackling stigma and
discrimination - especially within the government and its health
structures, and improving the implementation of national treatment
policy.

As part of this new advocacy initiative, the group drafted and
reviewed two public statements that will be released in the near future, one
directed at a pharmaceutical company and the other regarding stigma among
medical workers in China.

The full report from the workshop will be made public when it is
available. A call for submissions for applications to the China
Collaborative Fund will be distributed widely. Grants are available only to
groups working in China on treatment access issues.

Enquiries about the Collaborative Fund in China can go to Thomas Chai at
thomasinalliance@..., Country Coordinator, or Andy Quan,
aquan@..., Project Manager for Asia.

Andy Quan
E-mail: <aquan@...>