Despite marked progress in recent years, the spread of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases remains a major challenge for China - especially in Yunnan, which is just north of the Golden Triangle and where China's first AIDS case was discovered. In an effort to combat the disease and other problems such as malaria, the Chinese government cooperates with several international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) who work towards reducing the prevalence and spread of these illnesses.

One such Population Services International (PSI), has its Chinese headquarters in Kunming. Funded by US AID and The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, PSI uses targeted behavior change intervention, social marketing and evidence-based research in their work toward improving the health of the most vulnerable people in China.

GoKunming spoke with Clare Ye Sheng, a Shanghai-born American who works as PSI's China Communication Officer, to find out more about what PSI is doing in Yunnan and elsewhere in China:

GoKunming: What projects is PSI currently managing?

Clare Ye Sheng: PSI primarily works to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and malaria in Yunnan and Guangxi. We work on HIV prevention through the promotion of healthy behavior and social marketing of condoms and lubricants geared towards high risk groups. We also provide health services and outreach within the community through our drop-in-centers for injection drug users in Kunming and for female sex workers in Mengzi, Honghe. For malaria prevention, we engage in social marketing of long-lasting insecticide treated mosquito nets as well as malaria prevention education in villages throughout Yunnan.

GK: Have PSI programs met with any resistance from its target population on a cultural basis?

CYS: Although PSI is an international NGO based in the US, we strongly believe in local engagement as one of our primary working principles. PSI/China's role is to support the government of China in combating HIV/AIDS and malaria. In addition, most of our staff are locally hired Chinese, so there are very few communication or cultural conflicts to deal with.

Obstacles that we do face derive mainly from a lack of awareness and correct knowledge of HIV/AIDS prevention and social norms regarding relationships amongst the vulnerable population that our programs aim to help. For example, many female sex workers believe that they can prevent the transmission of disease through hygiene alone, and many villagers view mosquito nets as a source of warmth in winter rather than a method of preventing mosquito-borne diseases. We work to correct these misconceptions through targeted intervention based on extensive research to understand the barriers for them to adopt healthy behavior.

GK: Does PSI hope to expand? If so, what are some future projects that the organization would like to engage in?

CSY: We would like to continue our work in Yunnan and Guangxi and expand our HIV prevention services to other at-risk populations such as migrant youth and are also working to promote our social marketing approach with local partners and organizations.

GK: What do you personally consider the most gratifying aspect of your work with PSI?

CSY: During my tenure with PSI I've had the opportunity to travel to villages in remote locations in Yunnan. Being able to talk to villagers about pertinent health issues, understand their lives, and make these personal connections has been immensely gratifying.

Tags: Clare Ye Sheng, Golden Triangle, Guangxi, HIV/AIDS, PSI

Thai authorities are reporting that three Chinese policemen suffered injuries from a gun and knife fight with Myanmar-based drug smugglers while patrolling the Mekong River in the Golden Triangle area, according to Chinese media reports.

The Chinese police boat was patrolling the Mekong in accordance with a regional agreement focused on fighting drug smuggling in the area. According to the Thai navy, a boat with approximately six people on board approached the Chinese police vessel and suddenly began to open fire.

According to reports, the alleged drug smugglers proceeded to jump on the police boat, shooting and stabbing three Chinese police officers during a five-minute conflict before jumping back onto their boat and speeding away. The three injured officers were rushed to a hospital in Chiang Rai, Thailand afterward.

It is believed that the attack on the Chinese police boat was organized by a local drug smuggling organization that was trying to protect its drug transport route on the Mekong. The Chinese police were reportedly patrolling the area on an inside tip.

Myanmar is the second-largest producer of opium in the world, trailing only Afghanistan. According to a United Nations report released last October, Myanmar experienced a 46 percent increase in opium production in 2007 – after a 10-year period in which opium production had declined each year.

Primary reasons cited by the report for increased opium production in Myanmar – which is ruled by a military junta – include official corruption, high-level conspiracy and ineffective border management. In addition to increased opium production, Myanmar in recent years has become a major producer of amphetamine, producing several hundred million pills yearly, the majority of which are smuggled into Thailand and China.

Tags: amphetamine, drug trafficking, Golden Triangle, Lancang River, Mekong River, Myanmar, opium, Thailand

Yunnan province seized a whopping 9.6 tons of illegal drugs in the first 11 months of 2006, accounting for 80 percent of the total drugs confiscated nationwide during the period, according to this report citing Sun Dahong, deputy director of Yunnan's provincial Public Security Bureau. The total is more than double the four tons of drugs seized in the province in 2005.

Of the 9.6 tons, police seized 3.87 tons of heroin, 3.71 tons of methamphetamine, 1.38 tons of opium and 0.64 tons of other drugs. Nearly 12,000 people were arrested during the 11-month period.

Yunnan is situated just north of the infamous opiate-producing area in the northern regions of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand known as the Golden Triangle. Its rugged and porous borders have made it a main point of entry for illegal drugs into China.

Heroin and methamphetamine seem to be the main targets of the 30,000+ anti-drug police in Yunnan. The majority of heroin coming into China from the Golden Triangle passes through Dali, where it is then distributed to the rest of China and even the United States via China's coastal cities.

Tags: drug trafficking, Golden Triangle, heroin, methamphetamine