December 2022

Former NBA star Jeremy Lin, who plays for a Chinese team, was fined 10,000 yuan ($1,400) for “inappropriate remarks” on social media about quarantine facilities ahead of a game, China’s professional league announced Friday, as the government tries to stop protests against anti-virus controls that are among the world’s most stringent.

Also Friday, more cities eased restrictions, allowing shopping malls, supermarkets and other businesses to reopen following protests last weekend in Shanghai and other areas in which some crowds called for President Xi Jinping to resign. Urumqi in the northwest, site of a deadly fire that triggered the protests, announced supermarkets and other businesses were reopening.

Lin, who plays for the Loong Lions Basketball Club, made “inappropriate remarks about quarantine hotel-related facilities” where the team stayed Wednesday ahead of a game, the China Basketball Association announced. It said that “caused adverse effects on the league and the competition area.”

The ruling Communist Party is trying to crush criticism of the human cost and disruption of its “zero-COVID” strategy, which has confined millions of people to their homes. Protesters have been detained and photos and videos of events deleted from Chinese social media. Police fanned out across Shanghai, Beijing and other cities to try to prevent additional protests.

The CBA gave no details of Lin’s comments and there was no sign of them on his account on the popular Sina Weibo platform.

The Shanghai news outlet The Paper reported Lin posted a video complaining about hotel workout facilities in the city of Zhuji, south of Shanghai in Zhejiang province, ahead of games next week.

“Can you believe this is a weight room?” Lin was quoted as saying. “What kind of garbage is this?” The Paper said the video was deleted after “the situation was clarified” that the hotel was only for a brief stay required by regulations.

A representative of Vision China Entertainment, which says on its website it represents Lin, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Phone calls to Loong Lions Basketball Club headquarters in the southern city of Guangzhou weren’t answered.

Lin, born in California to parents from Taiwan, was the first NBA player of Chinese or Taiwanese descent.

He played for California’s Golden State Warriors in 2010 before joining the New York Knicks in the 2011-12 season. He became the first Asian American to win an NBA championship with the Toronto Raptors in 2019. He played for the Beijing Ducks in 2019 before joining the Loong Lions.

On Friday, there were no signs of more protests.

The government reported 34,980 infections found in the past 24 hours, including 30,702 with no symptoms.

China’s case numbers are low, but “zero-COVID” aims to isolate every infected person. That has led local officials to suspend access to neighborhoods and close schools, shops and offices. Manufacturers including the biggest iPhone factory in central China use “closed-loop” management, which requires employees to live at their workplace without outside contact.

Demonstrations erupted Nov. 25 after a fire in an Urumqi apartment building killed at least 10 people.

That set off angry questions online about whether firefighters or victims trying to escape were blocked by locked doors or other anti-virus controls. Authorities denied that, but the deaths became a focus of public frustration.

Xi’s government has promised to reduce the cost and disruption of controls but says it will stick with “zero-COVID.” Health experts and economists expect it so stay in place at least until mid-2023 and possibly into 2024 while millions of older people are vaccinated in preparation for lifting controls that keep most visitors out of China.

Urumqi will “further increase efforts to resume production and commerce” by reopening hotels, restaurants, large supermarkets and ski resorts, the official newspaper Guangming Daily reported on its website, citing Sui Rong, a member of the Municipal Committee.

Elsewhere, the northern city of Hohhot in the Inner Mongolia region restarted bus service and allowed restaurants and small businesses to reopen, according to state media. Jinzhou in the northeast lifted curbs on movement and allowed businesses to reopen.

On Thursday, the metropolis of Guangzhou in the south, the biggest hotspot in the latest infection spike, allowed supermarkets and restaurants to reopen.

Other major cities including Shijiazhuang in the north and Chengdu in the southwest restarted bus and subway service and allowed businesses to reopen.
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Cities across China further unwound COVID restrictions Friday, loosening testing and quarantine rules in the wake of nationwide protests calling for an end to lockdowns and greater political freedoms.

Anger and frustration with China’s hardline pandemic response spilled out onto the streets last weekend in widespread demonstrations not seen in decades.

In the wake of the unrest across China, a number of cities have begun loosening COVID-19 restrictions, such as moving away from daily mass testing requirements, a tedious mainstay of life under Beijing’s stringent zero-COVID policy.

At the same time, authorities are continuing to seek to contain protests with heavy security on the streets, online censorship in full force, and surveillance of the population heightened.

As of Friday, the southwestern metropolis of Chengdu will no longer require a recent negative test result to enter public places or ride the metro, instead only requiring a green health code confirming they have not travelled to a “high risk” area.

In Beijing, health authorities called Thursday on hospitals not to deny treatment to people without a negative PCR test taken within 48 hours.

In January, a pregnant woman in the city of Xi’an miscarried after being refused hospital entry for not having a PCR test result.

China has seen a string of deaths after treatment was delayed by COVID restrictions, including the recent death of a 4-month-old baby who was stuck in quarantine with her father.

Those cases became a rallying cry during the protests, with a viral post listing the names of those who died because of alleged negligence linked to the pandemic response.

Many other cities with virus outbreaks are allowing restaurants, shopping malls and even schools to reopen, in a clear departure from previous tough lockdown rules.

In northwestern Urumqi, where a fire that killed 10 people was the spark for the anti-lockdown protests, authorities announced Friday that supermarkets, hotels, restaurants, and ski resorts would gradually be opened.

The city of over 4 million residents endured one of China’s longest lockdowns, with some areas shut in early August.

Home quarantine

An analysis by state-run newspaper People’s Daily on Friday quoted a number of health experts supporting local government moves to allow positive cases to quarantine at home.

The shift would be a marked departure from current rules, which require that they be held in government facilities.

The southern factory hub of Dongguan on Thursday said that those who meet “specific conditions” should be allowed to quarantine at home. It did not specify what those conditions would be.

The southern tech hub Shenzhen rolled out a similar policy Wednesday.

Central government officials have also signaled that a broader relaxation of zero-COVID policy could be in the works.

Speaking at the National Health Commission Wednesday, Vice Premier Sun Chunlan said the omicron variant was weakening and vaccination rates were improving, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.

A central figure behind Beijing’s pandemic response, Sun said this “new situation” required “new tasks.”

She made no mention of zero-COVID in those remarks or in another meeting Thursday, suggesting the approach, which has disrupted the economy and daily life, might soon be relaxed.
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In the highly conservative country of Pakistan, AIDS patients often face discrimination that keeps them from disclosing their diagnosis. Hundreds of HIV cases reported in Sindh Province in 2019 included children. That region was recently devastated by floods, making access to health care for HIV patients even more difficult. VOA’s Sidra Dar reports from Sindh Province, in this report narrated by Asadullah Khalid.
Camera: Muhammad Khalil
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The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday proposed increasing the amount of ethanol and other biofuels that must be blended into the nation’s fuel supplies over the next three years, a move welcomed by renewable fuel and farm groups but condemned by environmentalists and oil industry groups.

“This proposal supports low-carbon renewable fuels and seeks public input on ways to strengthen the program,” EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said in a statement. “With this proposal, EPA seeks to provide consumers with more options while diversifying our nation’s energy mix.”

The proposal also includes new incentives to encourage the use of biogas from farms and landfills, and renewable biomass such as wood to generate electricity to charge electric vehicles. It’s the first time the EPA has set biofuel targets on its own instead of using numbers from Congress. The agency opened a public comment period and will hold a hearing in January.

Goal includes reducing fuel prices

The goal of the existing Renewable Fuel Standard is to reduce carbon emissions that contribute to climate change, expand the country’s fuel supply, strengthen energy security and reduce fuel prices for consumers. Ethanol is a key part of the economy in many Midwestern states, consuming about 40% of the nation’s corn supply.

But environmentalists argue it’s a net ecological and climate detriment because growing all that corn fosters unsustainable farming practices, while the oil industry says ethanol mandates constrain free market forces and limit consumer choice, and that higher blends can damage older vehicles.

Geoff Cooper, president and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, told reporters on a conference call that the EPA’s plan creates a “clear pathway for sustainable growth for our industry when it comes to the production and use of low-carbon fuels like ethanol.” He said it also bolsters the industry’s push for year-round sales of gasoline with a 15% ethanol blend, as well as sales of the 85% ethanol blend E85.

“As the administration is working to address climate change, we’ve long known that biofuels will play an important role in reducing greenhouse gases while having the added benefit of providing expanded opportunities for farmers,” National Farmers Union President Rob Larew said in a statement.

Climate campaigner calls plan ‘toxic’

Environmental groups said the plan offers false solutions to climate change.

“This is a toxic plan directly at odds with the Biden Administration’s commitment to Environmental Justice,” Sarah Lutz, climate campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said in a statement. “Charging electric vehicles with forests and factory farms should be a non-starter.”

Geoff Moody, senior vice president of the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, said the Renewable Fuel Standard was meant to be a liquid fuels program, not an electric vehicle program. He urged the EPA to go back as it develops the final rule and reject “yet another massive regulatory subsidy for electric vehicle manufacturers.”

The EPA proposes to set the total target for all kinds of renewable fuels at 20.82 billion gallons for 2023, including 15 billion gallons from corn ethanol.

The target would grow to 22.68 billion gallons for 2025, including 15.25 billion gallons of corn ethanol. The plan also calls for growth in cellulosic biofuels — which are made from fibrous plant materials — biomass-based diesel and other advanced biofuels.

Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, which is the top corn and ethanol producing state in the United States, said in a statement that the EPA should have gone further to require even more use of advanced biofuels to move freight, which he said would help lower prices for consumer goods.

Cooper said there’s probably no way to meet the proposed higher targets without more use of E15 and E85 instead of the conventional 10% ethanol mix. That makes it important to eliminate regulations that block summertime sales of E15, he said.

So, he predicted, the EPA’s proposal should bolster prospects for legislation introduced this week by Democratic U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and GOP Senator Deb Fischer of Nebraska to allow year-round sales of E15 nationwide. E15 sales are usually prohibited between June 1 and September 15 because of concerns that it adds to smog in high temperatures.

Eight Midwestern governors asked the EPA in April to allow year-round sales of E15 in their states. But Cooper said the new bill would provide a “nationwide fix” that even the American Petroleum Institute considers preferable to the current patchwork of temporary waivers and ad hoc solutions.
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China’s rulers are accusing “hostile forces,” including foreigners, of inciting street demonstrations in more than three dozen Chinese cities and many more universities in the biggest domestic political challenge for Beijing since 1989’s Tiananmen Square protests.

At stake is the legitimacy of the ruling Chinese Communist Party as protesters question its management of the COVID-19 pandemic. The government has used repressive methods such as repetitive mass testing, quarantines, and lockdowns resulting in large-scale unemployment and economic loss.

Jolted, the government is handling the new situation cautiously. Though several instances of police violence have taken place, state repression has not reached the magnitude initially feared. The government is depending more on propaganda to evoke nationalistic sentiments and using politically divisive methods to address some of the problems highlighted by protesters, according to analysts.

“We must resolutely crack down on infiltration and sabotage activities by hostile forces in accordance with the law, resolutely crack down on illegal and criminal acts that disrupt social order and effectively maintain overall social stability,” the CCP’s Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission (CPLAC) said in a statement released Tuesday.

Bucknell University political scientist Zhiqun Zhu said the statement is a direct reference to foreign forces attempting to fan the flames of political unrest.

“The definitions of ‘infiltration’ and ‘sabotage activities’ are very broad. Even a foreign journalist reporting on site is viewed with suspicion,” Zhu told VOA. “Social media postings and commentaries on the protests are also considered adding fuel to the fire.

“In this context, foreigners offering critical comments about the protests or making contacts with protesters are easily blamed for instigating, shaping and guiding the demonstrations,” he said.

By blaming unrest on foreigners and foreign governments, analysts said, Beijing can whip up nationalist sentiments that weaken the protest movement.

An estimated 43 protests across 22 Chinese cities unfolded between Saturday and Monday, according to the Canberra-based Australian Strategic Policy Institute, and some analysts say the protests have since spread to more cities and towns.

China’s leadership is trying to meet some protest demands to lift COVID-19 requirements such as lockdowns, mass testing and quarantines, and several locked-down areas and restaurants in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou — a manufacturing hub hit hard by the latest COVID-19 outbreaks — reopened Wednesday.

“I believe that in the next few days most of the locked-down areas across China will be reopened,” Hu Xijin, former editor in chief of the Global Times and a strong Communist Party voice, said in a video statement on the paper’s website.

Hu indicated this would likely be done to maintain social stability. “As lockdowns are coming to an end, the biggest factor for public discontent will be eliminated. It will have a very positive effect on maintaining social stability,” he said.

Instead of using batons to keep protesters in line — a normal strategy for Chinese riot officers — police are busy identifying possible rebels and troublemakers and checking phones to find out whether they have been circulating protest images on virtual private networks and accessing banned sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

Tuesday’s statement by CPLAC said agency officials had emphasized that “political and legal organs must take effective measures to … resolutely safeguard national security and social stability.”

Will protests persist?

Analysts differ on whether the protests — which are demanding democratic freedoms and an end to censorship — are likely to continue.

“It is unlikely that there will be more large-scale protests in the near future,” Zhu said. “New policies are being rolled out to loosen COVID-19 controls. It is also expected that the ‘zero-COVID’ policy will be replaced by more scientific and pragmatic measures,” he said.

Others disagree.

“More protests will emerge in different parts of China in the coming days, although the authorities may try to suppress them,” said Jagannath Panda, head of the Stockholm Center for South Asian and Indo-Pacific affairs at the Institute for Security and Development Policy in Sweden. “The Communist Party’s image has taken a severe beating because of widespread unemployment and the government’s repression.”

Salih Hudayar, an activist leader of the Uyghur Muslims of Xinjiang, said China might even use the military to suppress the protest movement. The suppression of Uyghurs has drawn the attention of human rights activists and several foreign governments.

“The Chinese government has already started to crack down on the protests by intimidating protesters and arresting many of them,” said Hudayar, prime minister of the self-styled East Turkistan Government in Exile.

“Because there is not any meaningful political support from the international community, it’s highly likely that the Chinese government will use military force to suppress the protests in the coming weeks, if not days,” he said.
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As much of the world returned to some kind of new normal in 2022, China remains the only country sticking to a strict “zero-COVID” policy to control the spread of a global pandemic. While credited with saving lives, the policy slowed the economy, exacerbated supply-chain disruptions, cost millions of jobs, forced a large portion of Chinese residents into some form of lockdown for months, and is now, experts say, forcing Beijing’s leadership to seek a way out of a problem they don’t admit having.

Over the last weekend in November, protests against the zero-COVID policy erupted across China, the country where the virus was first identified in humans in late 2019 and where authorities in Wuhan, site of the initial outbreak, locked down millions of residents for most of the first four months of 2020.

That draconian step saved thousands of lives, according to Chinese figures, and since then many Chinese have compared the 6.6 million deaths worldwide to Beijing’s official count of just 15,986 deaths. The U.S. alone has lost more than 1.08 million people. Beijing’s policy emphasized “always putting the people and their lives above everything else,” according to a November 25 analysis in the official Xinhua news outlet.

‘We want freedom!’

But three years into zero-COVID, people fed up with being locked down are in the streets chanting “No PCR test, we want freedom!” “End the lockdowns!” “Step down, Communist Party!” Protests of this scale are rare because the Chinese Communist Party limits freedom of speech and association.

Under President Xi Jinping, whose increasingly authoritarian rule was extended for a historic third term in October, many citizens vent on social media, trying to stay ahead of censors.

“China at one point was one of the world leaders in COVID response, and now it’s the only country in the world that hasn’t gotten back to a near normal,” said Lawrence Gostin, a professor of global health law at Washington’s Georgetown University and director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law.

“I think part of the reason for that is literally the stubbornness of Chinese leadership, and particularly Xi Jinping,” he told VOA Mandarin via phone.

Xi Chen, an associate professor of health policy and economics at the Yale School of Public Health, told VOA Mandarin in a phone interview that public outrage and economic impact indicate that China needs to make “a big adjustment in its public health policy.”

Medical experts inside China are making similar arguments. Dr. Zhang Wenhong, who heads Shanghai’s expert panel on COVID, said in a recent video circulating on the Chinese app WeChat that Beijing should consider relaxing its zero-COVID strategy soon.

“Look at the U.S., their cases are several times higher than us, yet their people are living their lives to the fullest. It’s time for us to adjust our policy, people should be able to relax and live a normal life, we as medical workers are the ones that should be prepared to face a rise in severe cases,” he said in the video, which China’s censors deleted soon after it appeared.

Georgetown’s Gostin said that through conversations with top epidemiologists in Hong Kong who advise Beijing on its COVID strategy, he believes that Xi understands that China needs to end its zero-COVID policy.

“But China is running out of time,” Gostin added.

Authorities commit to policy

Officially, Chinese leadership had shown little interest in ending zero-COVID before the end of last month.

On November 29, during the regular daily press briefing, a Reuters reporter in Beijing asked Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian, “Given the widespread display of anger and frustration at the zero-COVID policy in recent days across China, is China thinking about ending it and if so, when?”

Zhao, usually quick with an answer, looked at the papers on his podium for almost 20 seconds before asking the reporter to repeat his question. Zhao then paused for another 15 seconds before saying that China is following a “dynamic zero-COVID policy” and there is no public anger. 

His silence came after Xinhua issued commentaries on November 28, saying that while Beijing will do its best to accommodate the needs or desires of the people, it will stick to a “dynamic zero-COVID policy.”

“From newborn babies to centenarians, we won’t miss one infected case, we won’t give up on one patient,” one commentary said.

A day later, Vice Premier Sun Chunlan, who oversees China’s COVID containment efforts, urged further “optimization” of testing, treatment and quarantine policies, according to Reuters. The agency cited other officials saying that current restrictions, such as forcing people from their homes into quarantine centers if they test positive for the virus, would be implemented more flexibly to reflect local conditions.

Zero-COVID above all

Xi has staked his political reputation on the fight against COVID, and that continues to mean mass testing, snap lockdowns and extensive quarantines.

According to estimates by the Japanese investment bank Nomura, about 412 million people in China were in some kind of lockdown as of November 23. That accounts for almost a third of China’s total population and was up from 340 million the week before.

Shanghai, China’s most populous city and financial hub, experienced two months of strict lockdowns this spring, bringing business to a halt and severing key links in already disrupted regional and global supply chains. 

In November, with the number of cases increasing in Beijing, many residents in the country’s capital feared a similar lockdown as residents of other cities blamed the zero-COVID policy for tragedies.

Father says policy ‘indirectly killed’ his son

In the western city of Lanzhou, a 3-year-old boy died of carbon monoxide poisoning after COVID restrictions kept him from receiving medical care. His father told Reuters that the strict COVID-19 policies “indirectly killed” his son.

In China’s northern city of Hohhot, a 55-year-old woman committed suicide by jumping from the 12th floor, where she had been quarantined for two weeks. The woman was reported to have suffered from anxiety and was on anti-depression medication, sparking discussion about the impact on mental health from strict zero-COVID lockdowns.

The last straw was a fire in Urumqi on November 24 that killed at least 10 people and injured nine in a building with stringent lockdown protocols that that may have prevented victims from fleeing the flames. In a news briefing after the fire, Li Wensheng, head of the Urumqi City Fire Rescue department, said “the residents lacked the ability to rescue themselves.” 

“I think China’s zero-COVID strategy has been disastrous for the country in so many different ways,” said Gostin of Georgetown. “Most importantly it’s really been a huge violation of human rights: not just the lockdowns, but also the intrusive surveillance that we’ve seen of the entire population on their mobile phones.”

To enter any public space, all residents of China rely on a color-coded smart phone app that tracks exposure to infection. In June, media reports surfaced that authorities in Zhengzhou, the capital of central Henan province, were using the codes to restrict the movement of people heading to protest at local banks that had frozen their deposits.

An economy upended

Although the zero-COVID policy had nothing to do with the Zhengzhou bank run, it has slowed the country’s economic growth.

Previous official estimates said China’s economy would grow 5.5% in 2022. Now, the International Monetary Fund has lowered China’s economic growth projection for this year to 3.3%. The difference equals about $400 billion in lost GDP. 

“International trade and tourism have ground to a halt. Supply chains have been severely disrupted,” Gostin said. “And all in all, I think it’s actually reduced public trust in Xi Jinping, and it burst the bubble of so-called Chinese efficiency and effectiveness in policy.” 

Dr. Anthony Fauci, U.S. President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, said that he thinks China’s zero-COVID strategy “doesn’t make public health sense” on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on November 27.

“They went into a prolonged lockdown without any seeming purpose or endgame to it,” Fauci said.

Exit strategy

Unlike almost all other countries, a large percentage of China’s population lacks immunity because most people have not been infected with COVID. Without this so-called herd immunity, it may be difficult for China to extricate itself from its zero-COVID position.

The elderly are among the most vulnerable, but according to new statistics released by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention on November 29, only 65.8% of people over the age of 80 have received booster shots, up from 40% as of November 11.

Chen of the Yale School of Public Health said there’s real concern among international experts about China’s ability to treat severe cases.

“There is no shortage of hospital beds in China. The number of hospital beds per 100,000 people is basically the same as that of the United States. But for intensive care unit beds, it’s a completely different story,” he said.

According to government statistics, there are 3.6 intensive care (ICU) beds per 100,000 people in China, compared to 11 in Singapore and 29.4 in the United States.

“This is China’s weakest point,” Chen said. “Once the country relaxes the zero-COVID strategy, there will inevitably be a proportion of severe cases. And there will be deaths considering the current ICU beds level.”

He added that as the country pours all its medical resources to COVID testing, there are few resources available for making these long-term preparations.

Shin-Ru Shih, director of the Research Center for Emerging Viral Infections at Taiwan’s Chang Gung University in Taiwan, said that even though the omicron variant has become less virulent, it is still a threat to Chinese people who have not been infected or vaccinated.

“The best way for China to fight against COVID and to reduce economic impact is vaccination by next-generation vaccines,” she said.

Gostin stressed that it’s particularly important to make sure that a large percentage of the vulnerable populations gets jabbed with effective vaccines and boosters, saying “that is the only way China can emerge from zero-COVID … without a considerable loss of life.”
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Cameroonian health workers and people with HIV marched for World AIDS Day on December 1, calling for access to treatment for patients in conflict areas.

About half a million Cameroonians have HIV, and at least 1,000 live in troubled western regions and the border with Nigeria. The protesters urged Cameroon’s military, separatists, and militants to allow all HIV patients access to needed treatment.

Marie Chantal Awoulbe, who belongs to the Cameroon Network of Adolescents and Positive Youths, which encourages those with AIDS to get regular treatment, took part in the protest and World AIDS Day activities at Chantal Biya International Research Centre in Yaounde. The center carries out research on AIDS, and supports programs to treat and support vulnerable people with HIV.

Awoulbe said her network is asking both armed groups and government troops to stop deaths among people with AIDS where there are armed conflicts by allowing the patients access to regular treatment.

Cameroon’s public health ministry says similar protests and activities to encourage free screening took place in 70 hospitals, with at least 30 hospital workers and people with AIDS taking part at each of the hospitals.

The Cameroon government accuses separatists in the country’s west of attacking hospitals and abducting health care workers. Activists also accuse government troops of attacking and arresting hospital staff suspected of treating civilians the military believes are either fighters or sympathize with separatists.

In April, medical aid group Doctors Without Borders suspended work in Cameroon’s troubled Southwest region to protest the rearrest of four of its staff members. Authorities accused the staffers of cooperating with regional separatists, but the organization denied it.

Medical staff members say intimidation and abduction of health workers, and ceaseless battles between government troops and separatist fighters make it impossible for medical supplies to reach the troubled English-speaking regions.

Twenty-eight-year-old Betrand Lemfon said he and several dozen people with AIDS moved from Jakiri, an English-speaking northwestern town, to Bafoussam, a French-speaking commercial city. He said he and others with the disease were afraid of dying in Jakiri because they did not have access to regular treatment.

“There are a lot of persons out there who are in need of medications, so if we could have the opportunity and chance for medications to always reach every interior part of the North-West region, South-West region who are hit by the crisis, it will help the adolescents, young persons and children living with HIV to take their ARVs [antiretroviral medicines] and stay healthy,” he said.

Lemfon spoke via the messaging app WhatsApp from Bafoussam.

Cameroon’s military says it will protect all health workers and civilians in the troubled regions.

The government says the number of people with the disease in Cameroon has decreased from about 970,000 in 2010 to 500,000 in 2021.

Health officials say the decline is due to increasing awareness of the disease and its consequences. The government says sexual behavior is changing, with the number of people using condoms or abstaining from sex increasing.

Honorine Tatah, a government official in charge of AIDS control in Cameroon, said unlike in 2020 when there was resistance due to lack of awareness, many more civilians now accept systematic screening for HIV.

“During antenatal care, a woman is screened for a number of diseases including hepatitis B, HIV and if you are tested positive, you are eligible for treatment and that treatment will reduce the chances of a child getting infected with HIV. The treatment is free of charge,” Tatah said.

World AIDS Day was the first international day for global health, starting in 1988. It allows people all over the world to join in the battle against HIV, to support those with HIV, and to remember those who have died from an AIDS-related illness.
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NASA’s uber-expensive test dummy moon mission exceeds expectations. Plus, a lunar flashlight’s frosty mission, and a state visit to NASA headquarters. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us The Week in Space.
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