AIDS and Sexual Practices: Knowledge, Attitudes, Behaviors, and Practices of Health Professionals in the People's Republic of China

Although the AIDS pandemic has not yet reached the People's Republic of China, diere are a number of compelling reasons to direct attention toward preventing human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission now. China today is no longer the tightly controlled society it was 10 to 15 years ago. During the last decade, prostitution and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) have reemerged, especially in the cities, where the average annual increase has been 3-fold (Ministry of Public Health, 1990). However, rural areas are also likely to be affected, since prostitutes frequently return home to their villages after several years' work in the cities. Between January and August of 1989, 16,000 new cases of STDs were reported in Guangdong province alone (Bureau of Public Health, personal communication, March 1990). Premarital sex has also increased, as evidenced by the fact that many hospitals and clinics now report that unmarried women account for almost half of their abortion patients (Sun Yat-Sen University, School of Public Health, personal communication, August 1989). It is clear that conditions exist that are conducive to the heterosexual transmission of HIV.