In 2000, Chinese journalists revealed that several provinces had serious AIDS problems caused by unhygienic practices in the commercial blood industry. Companies pooled blood from donors, separated out the plasma, and then reinfused them with the pooled red blood cells to prevent anemia. The process, which netted donors about $5 per bleed, was a tragically efficient system for spreading HIV. In response to the tragedy, the central government in 2003 offered free anti-HIV drugs to these villagers. But many patients, poorly educated about the side effects of the drugs and the need to take every dose every day, had only taken their drugs intermittently or stopped them altogether. Here in Donghu, in Henan Province, health officials hired Wei Jainli (pink blazer), who became infected selling blood herself, and one other villager to watch their neighbors down their drugs twice each day. |
