Management of the AIDS Epidemic and Local/Global Use of Chinese Medicine

In the context of a social and medical response to AIDS at a national level recommended by the Chinese authorities,  the policy of eventual extension of treatment to all patients reveals “Chinese characteristics” that are akin to  international concerns regarding the use of alternative and complementary medicine. One concerns the use of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), principally in combined treatment (biomedicine with Chinese medicine) in a public health system in which it plays a relatively large part compared to other health systems in the world. This article focuses on the integration of TCM in therapies and research on HIV/AIDS.

The Institutional Transmission of Chinese Medicine: A typology of the Main Issues

 ABSTRACT: The aim of this article is to propose a typology of the different issues that the transmission of traditional Chinese medicine encounters today in the world, by successively highlighting ideological, epistemological, political, and educational difficulties. After showing how much the polarised aspect of the debates on Chinese medicine is already entrenched among specialists in this discipline, we explore the question of the epistemological status of this Chinese tradition by confronting it with the dominant biomedicine of Western origin. The originality of Chinese structures that were set up to protect and promote this national tradition is then highlighted as a possible source of inspiration at the international level, before describing the different economic factors likely to play a positive or negative role in the development of this medical and cultural heritage at the local level. Finally, the specific didactic questions that the transmission of this heritage and the teaching of this discipline raise are analysed before presenting a conclusion.

Dossier : Falungong et qigongContrôle ou libération des émotions dans le contexte des pratiques de santé qigong

Special: Falungong and qigongControl and Release of Emotions in Qigong Health Practices

Les nouvelles religions dans la société taiwanaiseRecomposition des faits religieux et pratiques de santé

Sida en Chine : discours et pratiques de la sexualité

Ann Heylen, Chronique du Toumet-Ortos. Looking through the lens of Joseph Van Oost, missionary in Inner Mongolia (1915-1921)

Recomposition des faits religieux et tension identitairesL’exemple de la « nouvelle religion » Yiguandao

Aids in China: Discourses on Sexuality and Sexual Practices The state's management of the epidemic both reflects and illuminates social contradictions

The issues that have taken shape around the need to prevent the spread of HIV/Aids, and to manage the risks of an epidemic, throw light on the pressing contradictions within Chinese society. They offer a very pertinent approach for analysis of current changes in the field of sexuality and to understanding the variety of its discourses and practices. The theoretical perspective of this article will be informed by a constructivist approach, since such approaches have radically altered our understanding of sexuality by raising questions about the social and historical contexts that surround it. In China the history of sexually transmitted disease (STD) epidemics shows that the ways in which sexuality is managed have a greater impact than disease control measures or health education. Nonetheless, despite the political efforts on the part of official agencies, combined with the dominant pressures of family values and of “revitalised” cultural traits inherited from the past, individuals are subjected to the multiple influences associated with globalisation and China's transformation into a consumer society. Recent studies have revealed marked shifts in the expression of sexuality. This article has three sections. The first gives an analytical overview of current scientific literature, and of the available data concerning sexual behaviour and its representation. The second deals with governmental action and pronouncements in relation to the dynamics of the Aids epidemic and the risks of sexual transmission. And finally, the third section provides a diachronic analysis of the state's management of sexual issues.