Typical

Apparently, the Henan province of China is suffering a massive Aids crisis. In totally unsurprising fashion, the government has been trying to pretend nothing was wrong and punishing anyone who said differently. Here's a pretty good story on the problem. (Remarkably well done when you consider it's the Guardian.)

"The headman told us that he doesn't want us to get the reputation as an 'Aids village' but it is a fact that almost everyone here has the disease," said Chang. Other villagers said their claims for the benefits due to HIV sufferers have been turned down.

Tempers snapped in June, after four villagers died of Aids in less than a week and two residents were detained by police on their way to petition the provincial government for help. The arrests sparked China's most violent Aids-related confrontation. Almost 100 villagers overturned an official's car and marched on the village headman's office to protest against their lack of health care. The authorities' response was swift and bloody: two days after the demonstration, 600 baton-wielding police stormed the village, battering down doors, smashing windows and beating residents, including HIV-sufferers, children and Chang's 56-year-old mother, who says she still feels pain in the arm they broke.

If they spent half as much engergy treating victims as they do beating them up, they might not have so big a problem.

Read the whole thing.

Comments

[Andrew Spark]

I think we need to be planning to control, monitor and regularize health care process.