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Public Health Program

China National Free Antiretroviral Treatment Program

HIV/AIDS Program

China's national HIV treatment effort, launched under the government's Four Frees and One Care policy adopted in late 2003, which offered free HIV testing, free antiretroviral therapy, free prevention of mother-to-child transmission, free schooling for children orphaned or affected by HIV, and care support for AIDS patients and their families. The program grew out of a pilot that began in Henan province in 2002, initially targeting former blood and plasma donors infected through unsafe blood-selling practices in central China in the early 2000s, before expanding to cover HIV patients nationwide and reaching all 31 of China's provinces and autonomous regions by late 2006. Between 2005 and 2015 the share of people living with HIV in China who had been diagnosed rose from 10 to 68 percent and antiretroviral therapy coverage rose from 30 to 67 percent, while HIV-associated mortality fell from 39.3 per 100 person-years in 2002 to 3.1 in 2014.

Facts
Launch Year
2003 1
Sponsoring Body
Chinese Ministry of Health, with health administrative departments at all levels 1
Target Population
Low-income people living with HIV (PLHIV) 1
Health Goal
Reduce the economic burden of HIV treatment on low-income patients and lower China's HIV mortality rate 1
Geographic Scope
China, nationwide coverage 1
Classification
Program Kind
Disease Surveillance Program 1
Connections

Associated With

national HIV treatment program implemented by China CDC

In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. PMC: Evolving Challenges in the Implementation of China's Four Frees and One Care Policy for HIV/AIDS (2024)
Dove Medical Press (Risk Management and Healthcare Policy), hosted on PubMed Central
  • Abstract, first sentence
    In response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, China initiated the “Four Frees and One Care” policy in late 2003.
  • Organizational-structure section, HMIS example sentence
    according to the “Notice on Launching the Information System for HIV/AIDS ART issued by the Ministry of Health”, health administrative departments at all levels are responsible for formulating detailed implementation rules for treatment information systems within their jurisdictions.
  • Introduction, nationwide-coverage sentence
    In China’s case, especially in the aspect of providing free ART drugs with nationwide coverage, the “Four Frees and One Care” policy has played a pivotal role in advancing efforts in HIV/AIDS prevention and control over the past two decades.
  • ART-practices section, opening sentence
    Under the “Four Frees and One Care” policy, low-income PLHIV can receive ART drugs free of charge at designated healthcare institutions established in various regions.
  • Introduction, policy-benefits sentence
    In providing ART drugs for low-income PLHIV and offering family care, the “Four Frees and One Care” policy not only reduces the economic burden on PLHIV in treating the disease 4 but also further reduces the HIV mortality rate in China 5 and alleviates the psychological barriers faced by PLHIV due to illness.
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