A&PI Wellness Center Hosts a Fact-finding Delegation from China

On Tuesday, April 7th, 2009, Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center hosted a delegation from the People's Republic of China—including Chinese Ministry of Health Dr. Hao and Dr. Sun, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention Dr. Wu and Dr. Mi, as well as Leland Li and Jinkou Zhao from the Gates China program—intent on discovering new HIV prevention and treatment methods to address the rising incidence of HIV infection in China.

Increasing concern for the highly vulnerable MSM population in China, which already has an HIV prevalence rate of 4.6%, has led Chinese officials to embark on a fact-finding mission to learn about state of the art HIV prevention interventions and programs specifically designed to reach MSM populations. The San Francisco Department of Public Health asked A&PI Wellness Center, a leader in the fight against HIV/AIDS, to share their international, national, and local expertise. The delegation toured A&PI Wellness Center’s main offices and was presented with information and materials from their “One Mind Opened” and “TalkAIDS” social marketing campaigns, both aimed at decreasing HIV-related stigma in Chinese communities. Using information gained from their visit, the Chinese government plans to implement new HIV prevention and treatment strategies in 61 Chinese cities.

The visit was covered by Sing Tao, a San Francisco Chinese language newspaper.

Members of the delegation greet representatives from A&PI Wellness Center with gifts.	Executive Director Lance Toma speaks with members of the delegation during a site tour.
The delegation and members of A&PI Wellness Center.