The past few week’s have seen, for whatever reasons, a huge number of stories on AIDS in India, Africa and China. This article in today’s Financial Times is the only one I saw that offers a new/different perspective on the situation.
For the experts mapping the course of the disease in Asia, the region will not face an explosion in infections but has a series of slow- burning epidemics that could eventually impose huge social and economic burdens.
“We have done a little too much scaremongering, rather than giving Asian leaders a realistic assessment of what is happening,” said Tim Brown, an epidemiologist at the East-West Center in Hawaii.
Asian societies’ traditionally tight control over women’s sexual behaviour is likely to help the region to avoid the extent of the epidemics that have ravaged southern Africa, where in some countries nearly one in three adults are infected.
[….]
Despite public rhetoric about traditional morality, few restrictions are imposed on Asian men’s sexual behaviour. Many visit prostitutes both before and after marriage, and are one of the main drivers and at-risk groups of the region’s Aids epidemic.
Interesting idea, that China’s strict family values could stem the tide of the disease, and there is a lot to say for it. However, since injection drug use, blood donation and prostitution are such major contributors to the epidemic, I have to remain skeptical. When people are poor and hungry and desperate, family values have a way of falling to the back burner.
If the topic interests you, you should have a look at the article, which is the first I’ve seen to say the problem of AIDS in China may have been exaggerated and may not be so urgent after all. It’s certainly not entirely optimistic, especially in light of new challenges posed by China’s ongoing sexual liberation. But its tone is certainly more upbeat (or at least less hysterical) than most articles on the subject.
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By Simon
It’s all coming out now because of the Global AIDS conference in Bangkok, where the major argument again is over absistence.
I think to some extent Chinese family values will help, but the country is going through such incredible change, especially now in cultural as well as economic terms, that it cannot be supposed that China will avoid the worst of AIDS. The difference is China (and Asia) can learn from Africa’s experience. Very slowly it appears to be…but only slowly. And as the article points out, men in Asia have very few moral qualms about visiting prostitutes. So it may simply be the disease is transmitted in slightly different patterns.
July 13, 2004 @ 11:35 pm | Comment
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By imron
I have grave doubts about “Asian family values” being able to prevent any kind of AIDS crisis in China.
First of all, what family values? A couple of years ago when I was teaching in China, there wouldn’t have been one married man in the upper regions of the school’s administration (maybe a good 20 people here) that didn’t have a mistress/girlfriend etc. This was in a small town, which is arguably far more conservative than a big city. From what I heard from friends I had teaching and working in other places, this wasn’t exactly an isolated phenomenon.
Note that the above quote says “Asian societies’ traditionally tight control over women’s sexual behaviour is likely to help the region” However it’s not the women who are the problem, it’s their husbands.
Second of all, history tells us that just believing your people are moral and virtuous isn’t enough to prevent the spread of AIDS.
Those who can read Chinese might like to have a read of this article:
http://www.cnd.org/my/modules/wfsection/article.php%3Farticleid=7040
(unfortunately this page is blocked in China)
For those who can’t read it, here’s my (very) rough translation of the last couple of paragraphs:
[Note: Below, I’m not sure of Doctor Tulei’s English name (Tulei is just the direct pinyin of the characters used in the article) however the article mentions he’s the head of the Chinese section of the American CDC’s Global AIDS unit.]
—- In 1991, when Doctor Tulei, visited South Africa, the situation there was similar to what it is like in China today. When he was holding talks with senior South African health officials, and revealed his concerns, they replied “We’re not too worried. We won’t have a big problem, because we are a former British colony, and the quality of our people is high….”
But now, South Africa has about 7,000,000 AIDS sufferers, more than any other country in the world, and making up 12% of it’s entire population. In some places you find scenes of hospitals without doctors, schools without teachers, and families without parents.
With profound meaning, Doctor Tulei says “The sentence ‘We’re not too worried, we won’t have a big problem..’, can still be heard today” —-
Anyway, Asian family values aren’t going to protect China anymore than good Christian values protected the west.
What’s needed is:
*education to reduce the stigma surrounding AIDS,
*education to shatter the myths surrounding AIDS (hint it’s not just a western problem),
*education to help prevent the spread of AIDS (note, changing the name of condoms from “avoid pregnancy cover” might be a good start),
*education for doctors regarding how to effectively treat AIDS,
*and finally, the resources (including cheap medicine) that allow doctors to effectively treat AIDS.
Put simply China needs to completely overhaul it’s entire attitude towards dealing with AIDS, and it needs to do it within a very short time frame if it wants to avoid a crisis on par with how sub-saharan Africa is today.
For those interested, I would highly recommend reading the book “War in the Blood: Sex, Politics and AIDS in Southeast Asia” by Chris Beyrer. Although a bit dated (first published in 1998), it covers in great depth the issues involved, and the approaches taken by different countries to try to stem the spread of AIDS.
July 14, 2004 @ 5:42 am | Comment
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By imron
Some more interesting reading: http://www.unaids.org/bangkok2004/GAR2004_html/ExecSummary_en/ExecSumm_en_01.htm#P52_5995
This is the Global Overview from UNAIDS 2004 Report on the Global AIDS epidemic.
Of interest is that in the last year Asia had more *new* HIV infections than the *total* number of HIV sufferers in the US, and about double the *total* number of HIV sufferers in Western Europe.
Yes, Asia has a larger population, but if you look at percentages, the rate of infection in the US has been about 50,000 new HIV infections in the last 3 years, bringing the total to about 950,000 – roughly a 5% increase. Western Europe had a similar percentage increase over the same time span.
In Asia, the figures are 1.1 million new infections in the last year, bringing the total to 7.4 million people – roughly a 17% increase.
So, we have a 5% increase in 3 years versus a 17% increase in 1 year.
If anything, it would seem that Asia could do with a good dose of “western values” if it wants to help reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS.
July 14, 2004 @ 6:17 am | Comment
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By ts
“When people are poor and hungry and desperate, family values have a way of falling to the back burner.”
are you suggesting that family values increase as the family grows more wealthy? i think material prosperity actually has an adverse affect on family values.
July 14, 2004 @ 8:27 am | Comment
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By richard
TS, not at all. When people are wealthier they can afford a better education and thus be more aware of the dangers of AIDS. This is why AIDS has been the scourge of so many third-world victims. Also, members of wealthier families are far less likely to be prostitutes or to be forced to sell plasma to survive, don’t you think?
Imron, thanks for your insights.
July 14, 2004 @ 8:36 am | Comment
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By hk
If I may speak frankly, I don’t believe that Asian families have that tight of a reign on their daughters’s behaviours. And I would also argue that the richer you get, the less likely you are to uphold “family values” if by family values we mean: abstinence, not swinging your bra around over your head; not kissing on the first date and maybe more; inviting a man to make love to you without a condom because you are “on the pill.”
I have yet to meet an Asian female who is half as prudish and sexually self-aware in terms of safety as any other female.
July 14, 2004 @ 9:10 am | Comment
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By Simon World
Asia by blog
Another edition of the various links in Asian blogging: Hong Kong, Taiwan and China Dan McCarthy posted an article on Living in China stating China would not attack Taiwan, ever. Joseph had an extensive (and to my mind accurate) response, including the…
July 15, 2004 @ 12:27 am | Comment
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By Simon World
Asia by blog
Another edition of the various links in Asian blogging: Hong Kong, Taiwan and China Dan McCarthy posted an article on Living in China stating China would not attack Taiwan, ever. Joseph had an extensive (and to my mind accurate) response, including the…
July 15, 2004 @ 12:30 am | Comment