More than 20,000 people working in the entertainment industry in Guangzhou were asked to vow that they would practise safe sex, and received HIV/Aids prevention education, as the Guangdong authorities intensified the fight against the spread of the virus.
The health authorities in the province said at least 4,709 residents had been confirmed HIV-positive in the past 10 months, with 43 per cent infected through sexual transmission, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported yesterday. Wang Ming , director of the Guangzhou Disease Prevention and Control Centre, said the centre had deployed a 200-strong HIV/Aids prevention team to educate sex workers at entertainment venues in the past two years.
The sex trade thrives on the mainland, although it is theoretically illegal, with both clients and prostitutes being jailed regularly and publicly humiliated.
But to contain the spread of the virus, Guangzhou health officials now openly offer safe-sex training to the city's prostitutes.
During a training session, prostitutes were required to vow to practise safe sex, repeatedly chanting: 'We must use condoms every time from today, for the sake of our health and well-being. No use, no deal,' the newspaper reported.
HIV/Aids prevention trainer Wan Shaoping said he demonstrated HIV transmission procedures with visual experiments.
He also shared pictures and stories of those infected through commercial sex.
'Prostitutes in cities offer cheap sex to migrant workers far from home and few of them use condoms,' he said.
Official figures show that nearly 83 per cent of prostitutes voluntarily ask their clients to use condoms after receiving the education.
But Mr Wan denied that the intervention meant officials were tacitly approving prostitution.
Meanwhile, surveys conducted by Shenzhen researchers show the major resistance to safe sex comes from clients.
It found at least 15 per cent of cross-border clients refused to use condoms when visiting mainland prostitutes and 80 per cent had never been tested for HIV.
Shenzhen has reported 639 new HIV cases in the past 10 months, with 60 per cent sexually transmitted.
However, both Shenzhen and the province do not have special measures targeting clients who refuse to practise safe sex.
In Shanghai, officials vowed to provide cheap or free condoms in all hotels, bars, karaoke parlours and major entertainment venues within three years.
The city has set up 58 anti-HIV/Aids stations to monitor the disease.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tK%2FMqWWcp51krrPAyJyjnmdma39yhZBonq6ZnpzHqbvUZqerp6OptrXB056qZq6frHq2v8RmmqimlKS6tHnFop6hrF2dtrc%3D