This is the first time that Beijing municipal government provided free medical check for homosexuals. The activity was organized by the Chaoyang District Overseas AIDS Prevention Work Group.
The activity was aimed to help the AIDS group to pay more attention to their health and learn some health knowledge, said Xiao Dong, head of the Chaoyang District Overseas AIDS Prevention Work Group.
“At first, we wanted them to take their health check in a large public hospital. However, many public hospitals, once learning that they were going to provide free medical checks for AIDS people, turned down our request, on the excuse that they already had too many patients. So, in the end, we had to choose a private hospital,” Xiao said.
They publicized their notification on the free medical check a week ago on website. When the notice was publicized, nearly one hundred people phoned in to ask about the time and address for the check. By April 15, about 200 people registered for the health check.
Many of the AIDS people came in twos for the health check. They were mostly in their 30s. There were also some retired people or college students. Patients could take both physical check and psychological consultation. The physical check included normal health check and check for their AIDS conditions, while some doctors would offer psychological consultation to these people. In order to protect the patients' privacy, doctors would not write down their names during the health check. Instead, every person was given a number card with a password. Organizers said that these people could log on to to check their health conditions three days after the health test.
Starting from today, the Chaoyang District Disease and Prevention Center will issue some 50,000 cards in some bars or parks where gays usually meet. With these cards, homosexuals can get two boxes of condoms twice every month for free, Xiao added.
