A press conference of China’s Ministry of Education in 2019 (Photo: Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China)

China’s Ministry of Education this week launched a campaign for AIDS prevention and control on college campuses. The initiative includes establishing counseling and testing stations on campuses and providing anonymous urine delivery testing for students.

The campaign aims at further strengthening existing policies of AIDS prevention and control and promoting the physical and mental health of young students, according to a notice published by the ministry on its website on Tuesday.

According to the notice, in light of various local conditions, self-service testing facilities such as counseling and testing stations, quick detection stations and anonymous urine delivery testing facilities should be set up on campuses.

The campaign will focus on six parts, including AIDS education, guidance from experts, and providing professional services. It was launched by the Ministry of Education under the guideline of the Plan of Health China 2030.

A 2019 report released by the National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 16,000 newly discovered cases of HIV/AIDS in 2018 among young people aged 15-24. Among them, more than 3000 cases were young students and more than 80 percent were homosexual males.

According to the Xinhua News Agency in 2017, in some universities, such as Tsinghua University, Peking University, and Beihang University in Beijing, vending machines for the HIV Urine Anonymous Test Kit have been installed to sell testing kits to students at lower price. The testing kit cost 298 yuan ($45) on the market, but it only costs 30 yuan in universities. By the end of 2018, the vending machines had been available among all universities in the district.

From 2011 to 2015, the average annual growth rate of HIV infections among young Chinese students aged 15-24 reached 35 percent, with 65 percent of the infections occurring between in the 18-22 age range.

December 1, 2020 is the 33rd World AIDS Day. The theme of this year’s promotion released by China CDC is “Global solidarity, shared responsibility.” With the background of fighting against COVID-19, we need to strengthen collaboration, as well as properly arrange the different responsibilities of the government, departments, society, and each person, according to the China CDC.