AIDS Care China(ACC) originated in 2001.  A group of people affected by HIV/AIDS came together through the Internet.  They supported each other on the network and encouraged more companions to face the disease bravely. They even carried out caring activities, such as delivering soup, by self-financing.  At that time, the HIV/AIDS issue was still a very sensitive topic in China. Although this kind of community-initiated care and love was as weak as candle light, it gave the courage of living positively to more infected people.

         With a wide range of HIV/AIDS prevention and control work’s promotion by government and international organisations, ACC, as a special forces in communities, got involved in national HIV/AIDS prevention work.  From 2002, ACC started to expand into the cities and counties in four provinces in southern China and build community groups with the support from more than 20 institutions at home and abroad.  ACC promoted the knowledge of HIV/AIDS prevention and control work; helped the patients; provided a warm family-like care to the positive people; actively cooperated with medical institutions to improve the treatment environment and carried out a series of peripheral services.  Therefore, maximising the therapeutic effect to allow the patients to regain their health and integrate into society.  Its fruitful work has been highly recognised and the United Nations Development Programme praises some members from the organisation.

       Currently, ACC is one of the most professional NGO in HIV/AIDS field.  More than 20,000 HIV positive people are receiving services from dozens of project sites, which are already established.  The people who receive anti-retroviral therapy treatment covered by ACC are one third of the total amount in China.  Its success of ‘Red Ribbon mode’, IEC materials and management software has been promoted in CDC systems across many provinces.  In view of this, whilst carrying on the existing projects ACC is committed to provide technical support to other developing grassroots groups, relying on the accumulated professional knowledge and rich international experience combined with local knowledge.  The local communities have become more and more powerful. With the increasingly complex situation of HIV/AIDS prevention work in China, nurturing these communities helps the entire society participate into the work to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS and ultimately promote open-mindedness and eliminate differences in the growth of civil society.