Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2010 Dec;39 Suppl 2(Suppl 2):ii38-46.
doi: 10.1093/ije/dyq211.

Scaling up prevention programmes to reduce the sexual transmission of HIV in China

Keming Rou  1 , Sheena G Sullivan, Peng Liu, Zunyou Wu
Affiliations

Scaling up prevention programmes to reduce the sexual transmission of HIV in China

Keming Rou et al. Int J Epidemiol. 2010 Dec.

Abstract

Background: Since 2007, sex has been the major mode of HIV transmission in China, accounting for 75% of new infections in 2009. Reducing sexual transmission is a major challenge for China in controling the HIV epidemic.

Methods: This article discusses the pilot programmes that have guided the expansion of sex education and behavioural interventions to reduce the sexual transmission of HIV in China.

Results: Commercial sex became prevalent across China in the early 1980s, prompting some health officials to become concerned that this would fuel an HIV epidemic. Initial pilot intervention projects to increase condom use among sex workers were launched in 1996 on a small scale and, having demonstrated their effectiveness, were expanded nationwide during the 2000s. Since then, supportive policies to expand sex education to other groups and throughout the country have been introduced and the range of targets for education programmes and behavioural interventions has broadened considerably to also include school children, college students, married couples, migrant workers and men who have sex with men.

Conclusions: Prevention programmes for reducing sexual transmission of HIV have reasonable coverage, but can still improve. The quality of intervention needs to be improved in order to have a meaningful impact on changing behaviour to reducing HIV sexual transmission. Systematic evaluation of the policies, guidelines and intervention programmes needs to be conducted to understand their impact and to maintain adherence.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The prevalence of HIV among sex workers at sentinel surveillance sites, 1995–2009. MSM = men who have sex with men. Note: The number of sentinel sites for commercial sex workers has increased, from 13 in 1995 to 434 in 2009
Figure 2
Figure 2
Condom use among sex workers at behavioural surveillance sites, 2004–09
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

References

    1. National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention. Annual Report on HIV/AIDS/STD Epidemiology, Prevention and Treatment in China in 2009. Beijing: China CDC; 2010.
    1. Cohen MS, Henderson GE, Aiello P, Zheng H. Successful eradication of sexually transmitted diseases in the People's Republic of China: implications for the 21st century. J Infect Dis. 1996;174:S223–29. - PubMed
    1. Gil VE, Wang MS, Anderson AF, Lin GM, Wu ZO. Prostitutes, prostitution and STD/HIV transmission in mainland China. Soc Sci Med. 1996;42:141–52. - PubMed
    1. Wu Z, Rou K, Jia M, Duan S, Sullivan SG. The first community-based sexually transmitted disease/HIV intervention trial for female sex workers in China. AIDS. 2007;21:S89–94. - PubMed
    1. Wu Z. Evaluation of the Effectiveness and Sustainability of STD/HIV Interventions with Female Attendants at Entertainment Establishments in Yunnan, China (unpublished report) Beijing: Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine; 2001.

Publication types

MeSH terms