Due to an increase in HIV/AIDS infection among students, the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) recently published a Notice to ask schools to build AIDS epidemic reporting systems (关于建立疫情通报制度 进一步加强学校艾滋病防控工作的通知) and requires schools to organize consultations to analyze reasons for epidemics and ways of controlling them.
The Notice pointed out that due to a lack of communication among related departments, HIV/AIDS prevention work has not been done properly before in China’s schools. According to the Notice, local health and family planning departments will track HIV/AIDS infections in schools within their jurisdictions and report new cases half-yearly to local educational departments. The Notice requires schools to protect students’ privacy while reporting HIV/AIDS cases. With the Notice, the Commission also hopes to design and provide courses in schools to educate students on HIV/AIDS topics.
