Safe sex next front in nation's AIDS battle
(AP)
Updated: 2006-02-22 20:47

EMBARRASSED TO TALK

And conservative attitudes persist.

"In the East, people still feel embarrassed to talk about sex, which is one of the reasons for the rise in AIDS transmitted sexually," Wu Zunyou, an AIDS expert at China's Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, told Reuters.

"We can't overnight become as open as in the West. But I think we are still making progress," he added.

China's prevention measures include educating students at 90,000 high schools and 2,100 universities and farmers in 740,000 villages, according to state media.

Too little, too late, some say.

"I did a presentation at a primary school in France, and everyone already knew about the main routes of transmission for AIDS. I was amazed! It's not at all like that in China," said the Chinese AIDS activist.

"I'd like to say I feel optimistic, but I just can't."