China's Response to HIV/AIDS and U.S.-China Collaboration

China presents one of the largest and most difficult challenges for the worldwide HIV/AIDS epidemic. From the discovery of the first cases in 1989 through the early 2000s, the Chinese authorities were slow to respond to HIV/AIDS. In 2003, when international attention mounted after the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), China’s response to HIV/AIDS was significantly expanded. The U.S. government also actively funds HIV/AIDS programs in China bilaterally through the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Labor, as through multilateral organizations such as the United Nations and the Global Fund.