Some of the biggest names in global business have joined hands with the
government to help 5 million migrant workers in Guangdong Province avoid or
fight tuberculosis (TB) and HIV/AIDS.
Migrant workers await trains
outside a trian station. They leave for cities in the hope to gain a
better life. [chinadaily.com.cn/file] |
The
China Health Alliance, which was launched yesterday in Beijing, will co-ordinate
the project in the South China province from this autumn.
Founding members of the alliance include global consultant Accenture,
pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, medical technology provider BD (Becton, Dickinson
and Company) and the China National Textiles and Apparel Council.
The services offered include education, medical tests, treatment and support,
Francesca Boldrini, director of the Global Health Initiative of the World
Economic Forum, told China Daily yesterday.
The forum will work with the alliance to tackle AIDS and TB; and the
programme will expand to other regions after two years.
Migrant workers from rural areas account for 80 per cent of TB cases in
China; and with the heavy influx into cities, curbing the spread of large-scale
TB and HIV infection is an immense challenge.
The China Health Alliance is expected to bring together member companies, the
Chinese Government, United Nation (UN) agencies and non-governmental
organizations to respond to the growing economic and social threat of AIDS and
TB in the country.
"The pilot programme in Guangdong will specifically target migrant workers
employed by suppliers of a number of member companies," Boldrini said.
"Migrant workers are the toughest to reach with policies and programmes.
Business is ideally placed to reach out to them and this is why we believe the
China Health Alliance is a major step," she said.
The member companies vowed to adopt non-discriminative policies towards TB,
HIV and AIDS patients.
Boldrini added that their experience proved that when the public and private
sectors come together to tackle disease, the impact is noticeable.
China ranks second in the world behind India in TB infections. It is
estimated that 45 per cent of the population in China was infected with a latent
form of TB. The current number of active cases stands at 4.5 million,
representing 15 per cent of the global total.
The HIV/AIDS epidemic continues to grow in China. It is estimated that
650,000 people were living with HIV last year in China. Of them, 70,000 were new
infections, according to figures provided by Wu Zunyou, director of the venereal
disease and AIDS prevention and control centre under the Chinese Centre for
Disease Control and Prevention.
Two months ago, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria was
launched in the country with US$120 million promised over the next five years to
help tackle the three deadly diseases.
(China Daily 09/12/2006 page1)
