by Xinhua writers Qiang Lijing, Sun Yang
XICHANG, Sichuan, Dec. 2 (Xinhua) -- The job of Jimu Zishi is regarded unsafe by her mother as it requires both long-distance trekking in mountains and close contact with drug addicts and HIV carriers.
As the chief of the AIDS prevention center in Zhaojue County, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Jimu Zishi has to visit local mountain dwellers from door to door, teaching her fellowmen of ethnic Yi how to prevent AIDS and inquiring about patients' condition.
With a population of more than 7.7 million, Yi is an ethnic minority mainly live in China's southwest Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi regions. AIDS has become a new threat to Yi people over recent years.
And this just shows how the situation is getting serious for China's 55 ethnic minorities, which account for 8.5 percent of the country's total population of 1.3 billion.
PAINFUL STRUGGLE
The biggest headache for Jimu Zishi is the rainy or snowy weather, as it would make the rugged mountain paths a tougher challenge and her shoes would always become worn-out after such a trip, says the 34-year-old woman.
Her mother hopes that she quit the job, but Jimu Zishi has persisted.
"The pains are worthwhile as I feel I have to play my role when HIV is taking its toll on my locals," she says.
Locked in deep mountains, China's largest Yi community in Liangshan, a prefecture which administers Zhaojue, can not yet escape the ravage from the demon of AIDS.
A juncture of Sichuan and Yunnan, a province adjacent to the drug source of the Golden Triangle in Southeast Asia, ethnic Yi people in Liangshan unfortunately falls into a victim of heroin, and the Yi communities have to face greater risks of HIV infections because of popular needle sharing among drug users.
A total of 24,768 HIV carriers have been reported in the prefecture as of September, 2011 while the number was 21,565 last year. It is recorded that there are currently 11,549 drug addicts across the prefecture.
Jimu Zishi is only one of the Yi people who have been awakened to the cruel truth -- the Yi ethnic group, one of the oldest minorities in China with a history of more than 2,000 years, will have to face a survival crisis if drugs and the virus of AIDS are not stemmed in their mountains.
HIGH PREVALENCE
Yi is not the unique case. In other major ethnic minority communities, AIDS has been spreading in a notable way.
In Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous region, the disease has been seen as a taboo for the majority of Muslim. People considered HIV carriers dirty.
So far more than 30,000 HIV carriers and AIDS patients have been reported in this region, ranking fifth in the country.
In Yunnan province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, homes to dozens of ethnic minorities, AIDS is regarded among the high risk diseases, as these regions have witnessed rampant drug abuse and frequent cross-border marriages.
Huang, a Guangxi resident, married Nguyen, a former Vietnamese sex worker in 2004. Two years later, she suffered recurring herpes outbreaks on her face. The couple spent a lot of money but the outbreaks didn't stop. Finally a doctor suggested they take a HIV test. Both of them showed positive results.
"In Xinjiang's Yili Kazakhstan Prefecture and Yunnan's Ruili City and Longchuan County, AIDS infection rates are over one percent, which is higher than the country's average and can be categorized into high prevalence areas," said Chen Zhu, minister of health.
There are 780,000 HIV carriers and AIDS patients in China, according to Chen.
Officials and experts worry that AIDS spread in ethnic minority regions, which are economically lagging behind and poorer than most parts of China, will slow down their development and cause social instability.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Thursday pledged new measures to help people living with HIV/AIDS obtain affordable drug treatment, enjoy fair job and education chances and avoid being discriminated.
He said the State Council had decided to roll out special medical aid next year in regions with high HIV/AIDS prevalence to help ease heavy financial burdens of patients caused by anti-AIDS treatment.
And ethnic locals have already adopted their own measures to cope with the severe situation.
