Peng Liyuan, the wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, said on Tuesday that China is willing to work with African countries to prevent HIV and AIDS.

China's first lady told Malawi's first lady Gertrude Mutharika that the China-African collaboration against HIV and AIDS has made a significant progress. She continued that the country is ready to continue its work on providing assistance in fighting the deadly diseases in Africa and developing health services as well, the Global Times reported.

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Peng also said China will share its own experience in preventing the diseases in Malawi as well as other African countries. She also committed to improve regional cooperation among institutions such as the Organization of African First Ladies against HIV/AIDS, according to People's Daily China.

On the other hand, Mutharika commended China's contribution in Africa's public health, not only on HIV and AIDS prevention but also on the welfare of its women and children.

Meanwhile, a report from China's Health and Planning Commission revealed an increasing number of cases of HIV/AIDS cases particularly among college students and gay men. The growth rate among students surprisingly surpassed that of other group, and an estimated 81.6 percent of these affected gay men.

The country has launched several campaigns to prevent or help people suffering with HIV/AIDS. It announced that it will start offering free antiretroviral therapy and make HIV self-test kits more accessible for the public.

Also, a vending machine in a Chinese university also started selling HIV kits. Aside from making it easily within students' reach, the kits were also sold more than nine times cheaper than the similar ones sold on online platforms.

On the other hand, the World Health Organization has called on the Chinese government to increase security of health information and eliminate stigma for people with HIV/AIDS.

TagsHIV, AIDS, Peng Liyuan, China first lady, Malawi, Gertrude Mutharika, China-African collaboration against AIDS, OAFLA, HIV self-test kits