Contributions of international cooperation projects to the HIV/AIDS response in China

Sun, Jiangping; Liu, Hui; Li, Hui; Wang, Liqiu; Guo, Haoyan; Shan, Duo; Bulterys, Marc; Korhonen, Christine; Hao, Yang; Ren, Minghui

In 2002, the first government-initiated intervention programme for MSM was conducted in Yunnan and Sichuan provinces under the support of the China-UK AIDS program. Several innovative intervention activities were conducted with the cooperation of the MSM community, including hotlines, face-to-face counselling, theme parties, internet-based education and peer education. These intervention methods were widely scaled-up and continue to play a leading role in behavioural interventions among MSM in China. In 2008-09, China conducted a survey among MSM in 61 cities to determine the extent of HIV infection among this population with support from BMGF. 15 International cooperation projects have played a vital role in exploring models for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT). Moreover, many international organizations, such as WHO, Global Fund China AIDS Program, CHAI, Improving the social environment surrounding HIV/AIDS Through these collaborations, China has increased the number of government agencies collaborating on the response to AIDS. These agencies have in turn adopted policies emphasizing transparency and the open sharing of data. To some extent, the involvement of international cooperation makes the various levels of government more serious about HIV prevention and pushes to improve the social environment surrounding HIV/AIDS. Advocacy for policy change and the development of strategic plans are a major task in the early stage of most international cooperation projects. Through a series of activities, including training, investigations, study sessions and workshops involving government officials and policy-makers from multiple sectors, an enabling environment has been created promoting cooperation between multiple sectors. This provides strong support for national leadership development and policy advocacy. China's HIV/AIDS comprehensive response mechanism, which is a government-led, multi-sector cooperation and involves participation of the whole society, was created one step at a time. Top national leaders have visited AIDS patients, supervised HIV prevention work and encouraged health workers during the annual World AIDS Day activities. This has set a good example for the whole society to follow. Supported by these programmes, the State Council AIDS Working Committee Office has issued several documents and guidelines such as Mid 16, 17 Strengthening capacity and developing grassroots social organizations With the aid of international cooperation projects, the capacity of staff at HIV prevention and control departments at the national, provincial and local levels has been improved. Improving the capacity of personnel is consistently one of the most important objectives for international projects. Technical documents, developed by different projects, have proven helpful to local health workers in mounting a rapid response to emergencies as well as in improving problem-solving capabilities and technical standardization. Some international cooperation projects have organized training sessions, workshops and study tours to improve abilities in project management, specialized knowledge and research methods. International cooperation projects create a team of HIV/AIDS fighters who are not only familiar with advanced international information and technology, but who also have ample field work experience. They have become the main force in fighting AIDS in China. In addition, programmes support applied research in H