The village of Shang-cai and several others in Hunan Province of China have been victimized by an illegal and incorrect practice of human plasma collection, starting from mid-1990s, which has led to the HIV/Aids infection of some of their villagers. The Chinese Government has paid serious attention to this incident and acted promptly. First, it has instructed relevant authorities at various levels to take firm action to rectify the blood-providing organizations and eliminate illegal blood collection, so as to place a grip on the spread of Aids/HIV via blood. Second, health and public hygiene authorities at all levels and the local hospitals have moved in quickly to treat and take good care of the Aids patients and those villagers infected with HIV. Third, the local governments have also taken measures to help the villagers in various ways, such as providing relief funds and foodstuffs to the affected persons and villages and reducing or exempting their taxes. The Government will take further action to see to it that the whole case is well handled. We welcome and appreciate the contribution of medicines, funds and other forms of assistance from home and abroad for those victims of Aids.

In this connection, there have been some reports that Madame Gao Yaojie has been denied a passport for her to go abroad to receive a prize related to Aids in Us. They are not true. The fact is that Madame Gao has applied on her own for a private passport on May 17. The case has been duly handled by relevant passport authorities. However, technically, it takes 15 working days to complete the necessary procedure of issuing a passport in China.