Gao Yaojie
Encyclopedia
Gao Yaojie is a Chinese gynecologist, academic, and AIDS activist in Zhengzhou
, Henan
province, China. Gao has been honored for her work by the United Nations
and Western organizations, and has spent time under house arrest
.
, and in particular gynecological tumors.
Henan was the site of the Bloodhead scandal which resulted in rapid spread of the HIV
virus during the 1990s among the impoverished rural population who sold blood at unsanitary Henan provincial and private collection centers
where blood was collected from paid blood donors into a central tank, the plasma separated out, and the remainder of the blood pumped back from the central tank into the donors of the same blood type. Dr. Gao is well known in China and worldwide for her AIDS prevention work in during the HIV epidemic in Henan, and for advocating much greater attention to people suffering from AIDS and children orphaned by AIDS.
Gao is well known for her writings and visits to Henan villages to educate people on HIV/AIDS prevention and for her work on behalf of the many children orphaned by the AIDS epidemic in Henan Province, home to 100 million people. In 1996 Dr. Gao Yaojie started doing AIDS prevention work and treating people afflicted with AIDS in Henan's villages at her own expense. She visited over 100 Henan villages and treated over 1000 people. She self published her book "Prevention of AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases" and distributed 300,000 copies of the book. Her newsletter "Knowledge for HIV Prevention" went to 15 issues and a total printing of 530,000 copies. She used the $20,000 Jonathan Mann Award and $10,000 in contribution to reprint her book. Since 2000, most of her efforts has been focused on helping "AIDS orphans" ("AIDS orphans" in Chinese refer to healthy children whose parents died of HIV.) in Henan's villages.
for Public Service in Manila, Philippines. In both instances she was denied permission to travel outside China to accept the awards. In 2003 she was designated on of the “Ten People Who Touched China in 2003” by China Central Television
.
Gao was awarded the "Global Leadership Award, Women Changing Our World" by the Vital Voices Global Partnership along with three other women from China and three women from India, Guatemala, and Sudan at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
on March 14, 2007. Dr Gao was reported in February, 2007 to have been held in house arrest
and unable to travel. She had been pressured by local official to sign a statement that she is "unable to travel due to poor health." A report on a visit to her apartment while under she was still under house arrest by Henan Province Vice Party Secretary Chen Quanguo， Henan Vice Governor Wang Jumei, and Henan Province Communist Party Organization Department head Ye Dongsong presented her flowers and best wishes from the Henan Party and Government for the Chinese New Year appeared in the Henan Daily and other Chinese media. On February 16, 2007, bowing to international pressure, the government gave her permission to travel to the United States to receive the award.
The house arrest of Dr. Gao was part of a continuing pattern of harassment, especially in Henan Province, of grassroots AIDS activists in China. In 2006 Wan Yanhai
, another prominent activist, was detained and prevented from holding a AIDS
conference in Beijing. Dr. Gao's blog, which she still maintains, has become what Dr. Gao's calls a "battleground" between her supporters and detractors. Dr. Gao in her blog entry of February 11 denounces a hacking saboteur of her blog and notes that one visitor left a message that people were being paid 50 RMB each to leave negative comments. Gao writes that the attacks began after she began describing many cases of people who got HIV through blood transfusions in order to show a serious problem of HIV transmission by blood transfusion continues in Henan Province.
September 20 of 2007, New York Academy of Sciences
gave her "The Heinz R. Pagels Human Rights of Scientists Award."
In July 2008, Dr. Gao's autobiography "The Soul of Gao Yaojie" (written in Chinese) was published by Ming Pao Publications Limited (Hong Kong), and the English version, "The Soul of Gao Yaojie: A Memoir", was published in November, 2011.
Zhengzhou
Zhengzhou , is the capital and largest city of Henan province in north-central China. A prefecture-level city, it also serves as the political, economic, technological, and educational centre of the province, as well as a major transportation hub for Central China...
, Henan
Henan
Henan , is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "豫" , named after Yuzhou , a Han Dynasty state that included parts of Henan...
province, China. Gao has been honored for her work by the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
and Western organizations, and has spent time under house arrest
House arrest
In justice and law, house arrest is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to his or her residence. Travel is usually restricted, if allowed at all...
.
Biography
Gao was born in Cao County, Shandong Province. A retired professor at the Henan College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Dr. Gao is a medical doctor who specialized in ovarian gynecologyGynaecology
Gynaecology or gynecology is the medical practice dealing with the health of the female reproductive system . Literally, outside medicine, it means "the science of women"...
, and in particular gynecological tumors.
Henan was the site of the Bloodhead scandal which resulted in rapid spread of the HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
virus during the 1990s among the impoverished rural population who sold blood at unsanitary Henan provincial and private collection centers
Blood donation
A blood donation occurs when a person voluntarily has blood drawn and used for transfusions or made into medications by a process called fractionation....
where blood was collected from paid blood donors into a central tank, the plasma separated out, and the remainder of the blood pumped back from the central tank into the donors of the same blood type. Dr. Gao is well known in China and worldwide for her AIDS prevention work in during the HIV epidemic in Henan, and for advocating much greater attention to people suffering from AIDS and children orphaned by AIDS.
Gao is well known for her writings and visits to Henan villages to educate people on HIV/AIDS prevention and for her work on behalf of the many children orphaned by the AIDS epidemic in Henan Province, home to 100 million people. In 1996 Dr. Gao Yaojie started doing AIDS prevention work and treating people afflicted with AIDS in Henan's villages at her own expense. She visited over 100 Henan villages and treated over 1000 people. She self published her book "Prevention of AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases" and distributed 300,000 copies of the book. Her newsletter "Knowledge for HIV Prevention" went to 15 issues and a total printing of 530,000 copies. She used the $20,000 Jonathan Mann Award and $10,000 in contribution to reprint her book. Since 2000, most of her efforts has been focused on helping "AIDS orphans" ("AIDS orphans" in Chinese refer to healthy children whose parents died of HIV.) in Henan's villages.
Awards, Harassment and Publication of Autobiography
In 2001 she was awarded the Jonathan Mann Award for Health and Human Rights, In 2003 she was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay AwardRamon Magsaysay Award
The Ramon Magsaysay Award is an annual award established to perpetuate former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay's example of integrity in government, courageous service to the people, and pragmatic idealism within a democratic society. The Ramon Magsaysay Award is often considered Asia's Nobel...
for Public Service in Manila, Philippines. In both instances she was denied permission to travel outside China to accept the awards. In 2003 she was designated on of the “Ten People Who Touched China in 2003” by China Central Television
China Central Television
China Central Television or Chinese Central Television, commonly abbreviated as CCTV, is the major state television broadcaster in mainland China. CCTV has a network of 19 channels broadcasting different programmes and is accessible to more than one billion viewers...
.
Gao was awarded the "Global Leadership Award, Women Changing Our World" by the Vital Voices Global Partnership along with three other women from China and three women from India, Guatemala, and Sudan at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts center located on the Potomac River, adjacent to the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C...
on March 14, 2007. Dr Gao was reported in February, 2007 to have been held in house arrest
House arrest
In justice and law, house arrest is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to his or her residence. Travel is usually restricted, if allowed at all...
and unable to travel. She had been pressured by local official to sign a statement that she is "unable to travel due to poor health." A report on a visit to her apartment while under she was still under house arrest by Henan Province Vice Party Secretary Chen Quanguo， Henan Vice Governor Wang Jumei, and Henan Province Communist Party Organization Department head Ye Dongsong presented her flowers and best wishes from the Henan Party and Government for the Chinese New Year appeared in the Henan Daily and other Chinese media. On February 16, 2007, bowing to international pressure, the government gave her permission to travel to the United States to receive the award.
The house arrest of Dr. Gao was part of a continuing pattern of harassment, especially in Henan Province, of grassroots AIDS activists in China. In 2006 Wan Yanhai
Wan Yanhai
Wan Yanhai is the best-known AIDS activist in China born 20 November 1963.His "frank and aggressive" approach toward AIDS have led to frequent run-ins with authorities and landed him in detention three times in the past 12 years. Wan, 43, is the director of the country's foremost AIDS-awareness...
, another prominent activist, was detained and prevented from holding a AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
conference in Beijing. Dr. Gao's blog, which she still maintains, has become what Dr. Gao's calls a "battleground" between her supporters and detractors. Dr. Gao in her blog entry of February 11 denounces a hacking saboteur of her blog and notes that one visitor left a message that people were being paid 50 RMB each to leave negative comments. Gao writes that the attacks began after she began describing many cases of people who got HIV through blood transfusions in order to show a serious problem of HIV transmission by blood transfusion continues in Henan Province.
September 20 of 2007, New York Academy of Sciences
New York Academy of Sciences
The New York Academy of Sciences is the third oldest scientific society in the United States. An independent, non-profit organization with more than members in 140 countries, the Academy’s mission is to advance understanding of science and technology...
gave her "The Heinz R. Pagels Human Rights of Scientists Award."
In July 2008, Dr. Gao's autobiography "The Soul of Gao Yaojie" (written in Chinese) was published by Ming Pao Publications Limited (Hong Kong), and the English version, "The Soul of Gao Yaojie: A Memoir", was published in November, 2011.
See also
- HIV/AIDS in the People's Republic of China
- HIV in Yunnan
- Plasma EconomyPlasma EconomyPlasma Economy was a 1991-1995 plasmapheresis campaign by the Henan provincial government in China, in which blood plasma were extracted in exchange for money...
External links
- AIDS Prevention Journey" by Dr. Gao Yaojie
- "Gao Yaojie - A Crusader for AIDS Prevention" from February 4, 2005 PRC periodical China Pictorial
- Dr. Gao Yaojie - A Hero Fighting Aids in China
- Dr Gao Yaojie's Blog (in Chinese)
- Group Honors Doctor Who Exposed China AIDS Scandal - Nora Boustany includes video interview with Dr. Gao in Chinese.
- Gao Yaojie is Not Sensationalizing the Problem - Yan Lieshan (China Business Herald)
- "Blood Money" an article on Dr. Gao's work by Regan Hoffmann from POZ