Children with HIV live in fear of discovery(2)

Since 2004 when China brought in child patient treatment, "we have constantly realized how important such supplementary procedures like mental support and the proper way to inform them of the disease are for effective and successful therapy," Zhao said.

But she conceded that such comprehensive services were not currently available due to restraints in funding and talent.

Li Bin, minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, said on Tuesday at a summer camp in Beijing for children affected by HIV/AIDS that more resources would be rallied to take better care of child sufferers.

First lady Peng Liyuan, who is also the image ambassador of the National Health and Family Planning Commission for HIV/AIDS control and prevention, and Margaret Chan, director-general of WHO, also attended the opening of the camp.

At the camp, 12-year-old Gao Jun, who was infected via mother-to-child transmission, was excited about the various activities for him to do.

At age 4, he starred in the Oscar-winning documentary The Blood of Yingzhou District, when he had just lost parents to AIDS and appeared quite introverted.

"I can hardly connect that poor little boy — who refused to listen, talk, or even just look at others — to the smiling teenage boy today," said Zhang Ying, director of the Fuyang AIDS Orphan Salvation Association, where Gao lives now.

According to Zhao Yan, more than 20 percent of China's HIV-positive children have lost parents to AIDS.

"They are in great need of mental support for healthy growth, both physically and mentally," she said, adding regional pilot projects have addressed that need issue.

Mental Support

A summer camp for HIV-positive children aged 10 to 15 last week in Kunming, Yunnan province, focused on their mental health.

The camp, held by the Chinese Association of Sexually Transmitted Disease and AIDS Prevention and Control and the pharmaceutical company AbbVie, is the first of its kind to focus mainly on the health of such children, said Shen Jie, deputy director of the association.

"Unlike the commonly seen sightseeing type, the camp aims to inform the children in a proper way of the disease they suffer from, help them correctly identify their status and better handle negative feelings," she said.

Xiao Jie, an eleven-year-old from the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, was never told about her condition, though she's been on medication for four years.

Her teacher, surnamed Li, said the girl did in fact know a little bit about her condition but never recognized that in public.

"It's typical of the sense of denial that they tend to develop entering their teens," she said.

According to Li, it requires great expertise in mental health to properly inform children of their condition. "That should usually happen after they reach 10, but China has no guidelines for that," she noted.

Jiajia, 10, from Guangxi, said she felt relaxed at the camp because "we all have HIV, so I don't have to hide anything".

Outside the camp, however, "I need to stay on high alert, mainly to hide my disease," she said, adding that she always takes the medicine in secret.