Chinese AIDS advocates detained after attempting to submit letter to
vice premier at conference


About 30 Chinese AIDS advocates who contracted HIV through unsafe
blood collection procedures were detained by police on Monday after
trying to submit a letter to Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi at an AIDS
conference in the country, Agence France-Presse reports.

The detainees are part of a group of about 50 advocates from Henan
province who traveled to the conference in Henan's capital,
Zhengzhou, to submit the letter to Wu, whom they thought would be
attending the meeting. The letter included 16 demands, including
increased access to health care services and drugs with fewer
reported side effects, assistance in paying living expenses and
punishment for the individuals whom advocates allege are responsible
for the unsafe blood collection procedures.

According to AIDS advocate Wan Yanhai, Wu is not attending the
conference, which opened Monday and is sponsored by China's State
Council. About 500 people are expected to attend the conference,
including officials from the country's Ministry of Health and UNAIDS
(Agence France-Presse, 11/7).

In the early and mid-1990s, many farmers in Henan contracted HIV
through unsafe blood collection procedures. The government-sponsored
blood collection program paid farmers for their blood and sold it at
state hospitals and private clinics. The Chinese government
estimates that there are 840,000 HIV-positive people in the country,
including 80,000 people living with AIDS; however, the United
Nations estimates that there are at least one million HIV-positive
people in China (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 2/9).

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