Abstract
Social assistance policy initiatives are crucial to improve the socio-economic conditions of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). Little is known about the implementation of HIV/AIDS social assistance policies in China, as well as the effects on recipients of the subsidies associated with these policies. This qualitative study examined HIV/AIDS social assistance policy implementation in rural Central China, a region heavily affected by HIV/AIDS. Using thematic analysis, we analyzed data from 15 interviews with PLWHA in Fuyang City, Anhui. The findings reveal the predominant role that social assistance policies played in mitigating the deleterious impacts of HIV/AIDS on PLWHA. These policies provided living subsidies and greatly reduced the economic burdens through medical and educational assistance plans. Our findings also highlight challenges with implementation of the policy, including access and coverage issues, inadequate subsidies, stigma, and issues related to recipients’ privacy. This study provides recommendations to improve social assistance policies that mitigate the negative impacts of HIV/AIDS on vulnerable households.
Highlights
According to the latest national data, by the end of September 2018, approximately 850,000 people were living with HIV, and 262,000 deaths due to AIDS had been reported in China (National Health Commission of China [NHC], 2018a)
This qualitative study examined HIV/AIDS social assistance policy implementation in rural Central China, a region heavily affected by HIV/AIDS
This study examines the impacts of HIV/AIDS social assistance policies on the population of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) who acquired HIV through former commercial plasma donations in rural Central China
Summary
According to the latest national data, by the end of September 2018, approximately 850,000 people were living with HIV, and 262,000 deaths due to AIDS had been reported in China (National Health Commission of China [NHC], 2018a). To speed up the process, donors were given blood from other donors with the same blood type and sent away without realization that the blood they were given was infected with HIV during the process (Chen, 2014). This scandal became widely known in 1990s, but no action was taken by the Chinese government until 2004, when the impacts of HIV and AIDS among this marginalized group could no longer be ignored (Copeman, 2009; Kaufman & Jing, 2002; Rosenthal, 2001)
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