Students call for equality for AIDS patients

About 200 students from 21 universities lit candles in remembrance of those who have died from AIDS-related illness at an AIDS candlelight memorial service held here Sunday.

They also called for equality for those infected with HIV or AIDS at the campaign launched by the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the China Red Ribbon Foundation and the China Alliance of People Living with HIV/AIDS at the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE).

"The campaign we launched this year is different from previous ones, as this is the first time we held the memorial on campus," said Ye Dawei, vice secretary general of the China Red Ribbon Foundation.

We hope to unite young people's strength to spread the spirit of caring for AIDS patients and opposing discrimination, Ye said.

Volunteers from the 21 universities signed a petition at the event to oppose discrimination against those with HIV or AIDS.

"I have learned more about the living conditions of AIDS patients by participating in the memorial service," Wang Yuanyuan, a student from UIBE, said, promising to spread AIDS knowledge and call on more people to care for AIDS patients in the future.

"The young people are a group that is susceptible to being infected with the AIDS virus," said Meng Lin, a member of the China Alliance of People Living with HIV/AIDS.

It is essential to inform young people about AIDS awareness and prevention, Meng added.

China has made great achievements in AIDS protection in recent years. Hopefully, the country can pay more attention to protecting both the privacy and equality of AIDS patients in the future, Guy Taylor, an official with UNAIDS, said as he addressed the event.

By the end of 2011, an estimated 780,000 people were living with HIV/AIDS in China, including 154,000 AIDS patients, according to figures released by an expert panel consisting of members of China's Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization and UNAIDS.

The International Candlelight Memorial has been held annually on the third Sunday in May, a day dedicated to people who have died of AIDS and those living with HIV, since 1983.