The problem is that for many years large numbers of poor farmers have illegally
sold their blood to people known as blood heads, whose unsterile collection
methods have left many infected with the virus that causes AIDS. The blood donors
get the virus not only because blood heads reuse contaminated needles but also
because donated blood is often pooled and, after the desired elements are removed,
the remainder divided and returned to donors.
No hospitals here take these patients," she said. "Their families
turn them out. There's no option - just to die. Many people think AIDS is a
bad disease, so they don't talk about it and don't admit they have it."
She said people are often so ignorant about the disease that they continue to
sell their blood even after watching dozens of fellow villagers die, thinking
that if they eat right and dress warmly, they cannot fall ill.
The illegal blood trade thrives in China because of perpetual blood shortages
at hospitals and at companies that make medicines derived from blood: most Chinese
are unwilling to donate blood. In rural Henan, most donors are women because
people here argue that men's blood is too precious to waste, and women lose
blood to menstruation anyway.
there is no sterilized equipment at all. Villagers just tell the traffickers
their blood type and then lie down on the ground to offer blood. Since then,
Dr. Gao has transformed the spartan unheated flat she shares with her husband
into a command center, using her pension money to print educational leaflets
and conduct simple surveys as well as answering thousands of letters from teachers,
patients needing money, even other doctors wanting informationYes, they've threatened
me," she said. "Even my friends don't understand me; they think I
should enjoy my retirement. But people are dying. And this is something that
can be totally stopped