China has announced that it has begun a program to test a new vaccine for AIDS on human beings for the first time. This marks a big step forward for China which has been slow in responding to the crises caused by the deadly disease.

The test will last approximately 14 months and involve a total of 49 volunteers and take place in three different stages. The volunteers will range in age between 18 and 50.

China has approximately 840,000 documented cases of AIDS in a population of 1.3 billion, but experts estimate that there are probably between 1 million and 1.5 million cases. Underreporting, especially in rural areas and outlying provinces is the case for the discrepancy. The general attitude of the Chinese government and Chinese society towards sex has also been a factor in the underreporting of AIDS and HIV.

Thus far, many vaccines have been tested on humans worldwide but no cure for AIDS has been found. At least China finally seems to be doing something to combat the problem. If no action is taken, experts estimate that there could be as many as 10 million cases of AIDS in China by 2010.