The National Health and Family Planning Commission in China announced on Wednesday that all those with HIV/AIDS will be recommended to undergo antiviral therapy under new guidelines. Patients will have to present themselves on a voluntary basis and be prepared to commit to lifelong treatment.
Previously, only patients with a low level of immunity have been able to undergo antiviral therapy since the risk to health is far greater.
Wu Hao, director of the Department of Infectious Diseases at You An Hospital in Beijing, welcomed the initiative. "It helps with better treatment outcomes for the sufferer and for public health as well," he told China Dailt.
China has registered more than 577,000 people living with HIV/AIDS, according to the National Center for AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly 390,000 are receiving treatment