'This is the last place to hide': 24 year-old Chinese man with HIV moves 4,700km from home to avoid the 'stigma' of revealing his illness
An increasing number of young people in China are becoming infected with HIV and many still face discrimination
The stigma of HIV and Aids is a major problem for one middle-aged mother and her 24-year-old HIV-positive son, Xiaolei.
So much so that, although winter is well underway now in the city of Karamay, in the north of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, every two months they brave the piercing winds and sub-zero temperatures to make a 300 km journey from their home.
Read more: Sharp rise in number of HIV infections among young gay men in China
Xiaolei Mama, 53, as she prefers to be called, who is a bone-cancer survivor herself, said the long, arduous journey was the only way that her son could collect his drug prescription without his condition being discovered by people living in the small city of just over one million people, where they have settled recently.
After he was confirmed as being HIV positive, I can still remember him collapsing in my arms, crying to me, ‘Mum, I am only 23, I don’t want to die’
“Gossip spreads fast and people talk,” said Xiaolei Mama, who, with her son, left their former home more than 4,700km away to start a new life near Karamay.
“This is the last place to hide: we can’t afford to move again.”
When Xiaolei turned 18 and revealed to her that he was gay, she thought it was the end of the world. But then, after he turned 23, she heard the crushing revelation that Xiaolei had been diagnosed HIV positive after becoming infected with the immunodeficiency virus HIV by his first boyfriend.
China has reported a growing trend of younger people becoming infected with HIV and the late-stage symptoms of the disease known as Aids.
