Since the Safe Mobility and AIDS Prevention Project began in Kuandian Manchu Autonomous County in November 2005 under the leadership of the Department of International Cooperation of the National Population and Family Planning Commission of China (NPFPC), the government of Kuandian County has attached great importance by organizing working meetings for the project, establishing project leading group, developing project implementation plans and investing a great deal of personnel, financial resources and material resources, which greatly facilitate the smooth implementation of the project with good achievements.

I. Active plans to set up preventive system

After the start of the project, the county government immediately conducted special meetings for the project, organized related units at the township/town, village, sub-district and county levels to carry out survey on the floating population, made up files for them and pursued dynamic management. Information about the floating population concise and clear, with special attention paid to contract worker sent abroad, immigrants from other countries and drug users. Based on the basic information of the floating population and in accordance with its characteristics of long border lines and large number of trans-border floating population, commercial establishments, restaurants and entertainment places, the county government formulated a project implementation plan, project leading groups were set up at various levels, network for project activities was established according to geographical distribution, and peer educators were recruited openly from among the floating population to take care of IEC and service at the project points. A volunteer for the project was recruited from each villager/resident group to assist in IEC activities and supervision of target population. A preventive network was thus formed at the three levels of township/town, village/sub-district and group, which provide organizational guarantee for the project implementation.

According to the characteristics that most immigrants were from Henan Province and Sichuan Province and that most contract workers were sent to Japan and Republic of Korea, these four places were taken in as the cut-in points. Mr. Song Zengming from Henan, Ms. Jiang Yan from Sichuan, Mr. Jiang Yuchen about to Japan and Mr. Li Yan about to Republic of Korea were recruited as peer educators. All of them had the educational level of secondary specialized school or above and were enthusiastic and supportive to the project.

II. Various IEC activities to produce a social atmosphere of public opinions

IEC on basic knowledge about HIV/AIDS to increase the awareness of the whole society is the key to HIV/AIDS prevention. Various forms have been taken to strengthen IEC activities.

1. Related units, peer educators and volunteers for HIV/AIDS prevention were organized during the big occasions such as the family planning publicity month and week, World Population Day and World AIDS Day to enforce publicity by sending out publicity vehicles, organizing folk dances, putting up banners over the streets, establishing publicity boards and distributing picture albums on HIV/AIDS prevention.

2. Conducted Publicity on HIV/AIDS prevention to villages, communities and households

3. Coordinated the Bureau of Communications to display publicity slogans on the electronic screens along Highway No. 201; coordinated the Association of Sciences to enforce study and publicity on HIV/AIDS knowledge during their professional activities to the villages; coordinated the government offices to organize students to attend related publicity activities during their holidays; and put up posters in the publicity window in Huangyishan Park in the county.

4. Enforced various IEC activities on HIV/AIDS prevention, so that awareness rate of the people had remarkably increased to over 95% (aware of more than 2 ways of HIV/AIDS spread).

III. Well-established management and services

1. Strengthened information management. Education and administrative intervention among the contract workers to be sent abroad had been arranged before their departure. Family planning offices of the townships/towns and medical workers in charge of HIV/AIDS prevention were responsible for providing publicity and education to those contract workers back from abroad. In this way, relative information had been timely collected and reported to superior offices. Work had also been done to mobilize them to receive HIV test. Special attention had been paid to alien immigrants regarding HIV/AIDS prevention.

2. Established condom distributing points for the floating population.

3. Carried out quality of care in reproductive health for the floating population.

4. Brought to full play the role of peer educators and volunteers.

During the past one year and more in implementing the project, we have adopted various ways to carry out IEC activities, and strengthened management and service at the same time, especially those for the floating population, so that IEC on HIV/AIDS prevention has been extensively carried out in the whole county, acceptance rate of publicity on HIV/AIDS prevention has been greatly increase, especially among the floating population to over 98%, and an atmosphere of significant attention attached by the whole society, participation of every person, and joint efforts in HIV/AIDS prevention has basically come into being.

(Source:Project Office, Safe Mobility and AIDS Prevention Project£¬Kuandian Manchu Autonomous County, Liaoning Province)