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Help provided for children with AIDS
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Another group vulnerable to AIDS is children. Most of them acquire the disease through mother-to-child transmission. Some other cases are due to unclean blood transfusions. But no matter how they contract the virus, children need more care and attention from society, since they are too young to defend themselves.
The Chinese government is allocating funds to help, and NGOs around the country are playing their part. Some youngsters are benefiting from this assistance, while more are still waiting.It's a big feast for these young kids And it looks yummy to them.
But, behind the warm smiles and playfulness of these five children, lie the tales of their difficult lives. They are all HIV-positive.
Some had both parents die from AIDS. Others were simply abandoned by their relatives in the streets.
Now, the Fuyang AIDS Orphan Salvation Association in Anhui Province is their home, and hope.
For the children here, taking these drugs has become a regular fixture in their daily routine.
But they are not afraid of taking medicine for the rest of their lives.
"Only after I win the battle against this illness, can I be given a life of my own."
NGO staff members and volunteers say a big challenge is proper prescription of the children's anti-retroviral drug regimens.
China guarantees free treatment for AIDS patients, but there is still a lack of proper pediatric medicine for infected children across the country.
Even worse, youngsters with AIDS in some poor rural families are going without treatment or are failing to be diagnosed properly. And stigma remains a major obstacle.
To tackle these problems, China has taken strides towards better care for, and integration of, children with AIDS. Help has also come from foreign agencies.
This association runs a weekly activity center for children with AIDS, as well as those whose parents have AIDS.
The founder says she is seeing less discrimination against these kids, as more awareness campaigns and projects have been launched nationwide.
