China Acts on AIDS

Free needles to drug users to control HIV

By Wu Yiyao (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-08-12 11:48

SHANGHAI: Distributing free needles to drug users may help control the number of people infected with HIV, according to Nobel Prize winner Luc Montagnier speaking on Wednesday at the International Forum on City and Health.

Luc Montagnier, together with Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2008 for their discovery of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

Montagnier said many HIV carriers are infected via blood transmission through sharing needles for drug injection.

"Some countries have piloted distributing needles to injection drug users so they don't have to share needles," he said. "The measure may not help reduce the number of injection drug users, but it has proved effective for controlling HIV transmission."

Some countries, such as Netherlands and Switzerland, have reportedly distributed free needles to injection drug users. In China, volunteers in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region have also run similar program to reduce transmission of HIV between users.

Montagnier said currently there is no timetable for developing an effective vaccine for HIV.

"Vaccine alone is not enough for preventing an epidemic of HIV," he said. "For those who have been already infected, research for effective treatment is in dire need."

Education and promotion of safe sex is also needed, he said, as sexual transmission is becoming a dominant way to catch HIV.

The number of HIV carriers in China has reportedly reached 740,000 by July 2010, according to China News Service. In 2009, about 48,000 people were infected with HIV in China, among which 74.7 percent got infected via sexual activities.

It may be too late to educate people who have already had unsafe sex before they know that HIV transmits via sexual activities, he said.

"Most young people who are sexually matured haven't seen the terrible face of those who have been infected with HIV and unaware of the danger of unsafe sexual behavior," he said. "It is important to make young people know before they reach the age of sexual maturity."

Education for safe sex needs to be given to kids, he said.

Chen Xiaoya, vice Minister of Ministry of Education, said schools in China have been required to include education for preventing AIDS in their curriculum.