在世界艾滋病日——12月1日来临之际，中国首次召开了全国艾滋病会议。来自20多个国家的2700多位医学界、社会学界、法律界和教育界的专家出席了这次会议。联合国负责艾滋病防治的最高官员称这次大会是“具有历史意义的”。在会上，中国政府承诺，要在控制艾滋病毒传播和教育民众如何预防这一致命疾病等方面做更多的工作。

通过这样一次会议，中国政府传达了一条信息，即原来地方政府曾经竭力掩盖的问题正变得越来越公开化了。

 With World AIDS Day------December 1 just around the corner, China held its first national AIDS conference. The meeting brought together more than 2700 experts—medical, social, legal and educational------from 20 nations. The United Nations' top AIDS official described it as "historic". At the meeting, the Chinese Government vowed to do more to control the spread of HIV/AIDS and to educate the public about how to protect themselves against the deadly disease.

   The conference's very existence helped the government send the signal that it is becoming more open about a problem that local officials have tried to hide.

                    艾滋病受害者人数在增加

政府方面有消息说，在2001年前6个月中，艾滋病感染者人数与去年同期相比猛增了67%。截止到9月份，中国已经有28133人被确认感染了艾滋病毒。其中有1208人为艾滋病患者，另外已经有641人死于此病。但是官方估计，实际感染艾滋病毒的人数要高得多。静脉毒品注射是艾滋病在中国传播的主要途径，大约2/3的患者都是由此而感染的。另外，这一疾病在非法献血者中也很普遍。

联合国艾滋病组织的一位官员说：“中国仍有时间采取措施，以避免这一流行性疾病在未来的10年中广泛传播。”与会者呼吁加强对性保健领域工作人员的教育，安装安全套供应机，以及在学校中展开更加公开的讨论。这些措施将会降低世界第一人口大国的艾滋病感染率。

Increase of AIDS victims

    The government says the number of infections jumped 67 percent in the first six months of 2001 compared to the first half of last year. By September, 28,133 people in China were confirmed to have contracted the HIV virus, among whom 1,208 were AIDS patients and 641had died. But officials estimate that the actual number of people infected with HIV is much higher. Intravenous drug injection is the leading reason for the spread of AIDS in China, and is responsible for two thirds of HIV patients. The disease is also spreading widely among illegal blood donors.

   Officials from UNAIDS said China still has time to act if it wants to avert the widespread epidemic before the end of the decade. Participants in China's first AIDS conference called for the education of those who work in sexual health areas, the installation of condom-dispensing machines and more open discussions in schools, saying such measures will reduce infection rates in the world's most populous nation.