China's AIDS Disaster: Gao Yaojie is Not Sensationalizing the Problem

Gao Yaojie is Not Sensationalizing the Problem

By Yan Lieshan China Business Herald (an 800,000 circulation daily
PRC business and financial paper; the author is an editor with the
Nanfang group of newspapers.)

http://www.cb-h.com/shshshow.asp?n_id=30676

AIDS is a malignant epidemic disease that seriously threatens the
health of the Chinese people. No one can close their eyes to this any
longer but there is some disagreement about just what are the most
important modes of transmission of the HIV virus. Some experts and
officials believe that sexual promiscuity and injection using dirty
needles are the most important transmission modes. However, China's
first person for AIDS prevention, Dr. Gao Yaojie that the most important
mode for HIV transmission is still blood collection, blood transfusion
and medical products made from blood, and so argues that the government
needs to focus its attention more on blood collection, transfusion and
blood products and not on pushing for virtue and self-control on the
part of high risk groups and spreading condoms widely.

In my view, they are both right, and both are needed just that in
different regions there are different people and so different measures
need to be taken. As for the view of some officials and experts that Dr.
Gao Yaojie's views are already outmoded, early in 2007 in my article
"Dr. Gao Yaojie Sick at Heart", I wrote that Gao Yaojie "In her blog on
Sina.com wrote something that is confirmed in economic theory and
practice. She wrote 'With China being short of blood, how can illegal
blood collection be controlled? A poor person sells 800 cc of blood for
50 RMB, so how can the bloodhead [illegal blood collector and seller]
give up the tremendous profits that can be reaped'?"

Recent press reports confirm this fact and again confirm Gao
Yaojie's judgment.

Baiyi of Guangdong Province, which manufactures injectable
immunoglobulin was found not to be manufacturing in line with
regulations. Clinical practice found that some of the products of that
company were found to have caused some patients to become positive for
Hepatitis B antibodies as a result. On January 26, 2007 the Xinmin
Evening News reported on a journalist's undercover visit to a Lianshan
plasma collection center of the Baiyi of Guangdong. The journalist found
that the process for collecting blood that gave reason for serious concern.

On January 24, 2007, the journalist went to that blood plasma
collection station and found a notice posted on the front door: "This
Company announced that plasma collection ends tomorrow, collection times
will be announced later. The notice was dated January 22, 2007. That is,
blood plasma collections continued until the day before the Ministry of
Health, State Food and Drug Management Commission issued a public notice
that there were problems with the immunoglobulin products of the Baiyi
Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., even though this company had previously been
listed by the concerned department of Guangdong Province.

We need to understand clearly that Chinese reality cannot be changed
merely by one or two laws or regulations.

The second reason why there is still a problem with illegal blood
collection and blood transfusions from blood that was not safely
collected and processed is that some companies without a conscience
operate illegally for the sake of big profits. The article revealed that
the hidden risk caused by long term improper management of blood
collection did not end when the blood plasma sold the plasma to a
company. There are many hidden risks to blood collection