More than 2,000 people including carriers of the HIV virus that causes AIDS took part in a charity walk on the Great Wall yesterday to raise 600,000 yuan (US$81,000) to help those living with the disease.

The proceeds of the "Great AIDS Walk" in the Juyongguan Pass section in northern Beijing will go to the Sunshine Program for Chinese HIV/AIDS carriers, which will be launched by the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the China Red Cross Foundation (CRCF) in the upcoming year.

"This is a very important event because it is everyone’s duty - the young, the old, government officials, NGOs and other citizens to commit together to fight HIV/AIDS," said Khalid Malik, United Nations resident coordinator, yesterday.

"It's about human rights, the rights that people with AIDS should live normal lives," he said.

Speaking highly of the AIDS prevention efforts of the Chinese government, Malik said that President Hu Jintao has displayed "great commitment" and "showed his support" for the work to fight AIDS.

"The UNAIDS will set into motion an effective mechanism to supervise funds so that they will be used correctly. I hope the money can be sent directly to those HIV/AIDS sufferers who are the most needy," Malik told China Daily.

The UNAIDS has invested US$50,000 in the Sunshine Program. Foreign enterprises and private companies also donated about 200,000 yuan (US$27,000). 

"The Sunshine Program will be launched mainly in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Yunnan and Henan provinces to give HIV/AIDS patients the skills they need to help them adjust to a normal life," Su Juxiang, the vice president of CRCF, told China Daily yesterday.

"We hope more HIV/AIDS sufferers can go public but it depends on the kind of support and understanding that society affords them," said Su.

Diana Peters, a German who worked for an anti-AIDS NGO in Thailand for three years, said that it was a great idea to encourage AIDS patients to take part in social activities, even if they did so anonymously.

"Stigma and discrimination are potential killers for HIV/AIDS carriers, even in advanced countries. So I am happy to see so much Chinese concern about the life of HIV/AIDS carriers," Peters said.

Shomik Mehndiratta, a transport specialist in the Beijing office of the World Bank, brought his two-year-old son to join in the walk.

"The red ribbon, the symbol of the fight against AIDS, impressed my son. I told him today is an adventure trip signifying love and care," he added.

(China Daily December 3, 2007)