According to the latest poll by the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC), the proportion of people who are willing to accept the AIDS patients as their neighbors has risen from 52% last year to 64% this year. The proportion remains unchanged for people who are willing to have more close contact with HIV-infected patients such as being roommates. Yet, the proportion of people who feel uncomfortable to stand next to HIV-infected people is increasing as compared to the last year’s poll. In order to eliminate discrimination against HIV and to promote the prevention of this disease, Taiwan CDC launched an event of Republic of China (Taiwan) Centennial where hundreds of celebrities were invited to sign their names on the event T-shirts in support of HIV-infected people and those living with AIDS.
Taiwan CDC announced today that hundreds of celebrities, including significant political figures such as President Ma, Vice President Xiao, Premier Wu, President Wang of the Legislative Yuan and others, as well as many performing artists such as MayDay, Soda Green, Chen Yen Xin participated in this meaningful event by signing names on the event T-shirts.
At the press conference, President Wang of the Legislative Yuan said it was the first time that hundreds of people wore the Red Ribbon T-shirts to form the Red Ribbon in front of the Legislative Yuan to support HIV-infected people and those living with AIDS. Mr. Wang added that to effectively prevent this disease, the Legislative Yuan passed the” Rules of the AIDS Prevention and Control Act “in 1990. Therefore, it is meaningful to hold this event at the Legislative Yuan this year.
The Minister of DOH, Wen-Ta Chiu, said the number of patients who suffer from HIV has recently declined. However, according to last year’s statistics, the proportion of people aged between 15 and 24 who suffer from the disease has increased by 13.3% when compared with the figure in 2009, and more than 90% of them became infected through unprotected sex. Dr. Chiu stressed that the best way to prevent this disease is to practice safe sex and use condom while having sex.
According to another poll conducted by Taiwan CDC, over 50% of the interview participants use condom as contraception. In addition, over 75% of the participants agree it is safer to use condoms while having sex. Around 94% of the participants expressed that they would use condoms if requested by their partners. Further, 44% of the participants used condoms when they had sex for the first time and 51% used condoms during the recent sex. These numbers show the use of condoms has become more common in Taiwan as compared to that last year.
Around 73% of the interview participants have correct knowledge that AIDS cannot be cured completely, but it can be controlled by proper medical treatment. Only around 20% of the participants still mistakenly regard blood donation as a method to screen HIV.
The interview conducted by Taiwan CDC using telephone was done betweenNovember 20 and 23, 2011. The sample population consisted of males aged between 15 and 59 in Taiwan. A total of 1,075 valid samples were successfully interviewed, with 95% confidence level and ± 3% estimated sampling error.
The World AIDS Day, observed on December 1 each year, is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection. This year’s theme is “ Getting to Zero”, which aimis to half the total number of infected HIV patients by 2015, to provide medical treatment to those living with AIDS, to promote zero new case and zero death associated with HIV, and to eliminate discrimination against AIDS.
Taiwan CDC is also holding an event of “Take a picture of you and your condom” to promote AIDS awareness. Winners of the competition will receive the limited T-shirts as rewards. More details concerning the event can be found on: http://www.facebook.com/TWCDC?sk=app_198223970222880