The legislative body of Jiangsu province adopted a regulation on the prevention and treatment of AIDS Friday -- the first such regulation approved by a local government, the Xinhua news agency said.

The regulation covers HIV/AIDS prevention, control, management, rights and obligations of AIDS patients and legal liability.

Liu Kexi, deputy director of the legal committee of the Jiangsu People's Congress, said the regulation puts emphasis on increasing publicity, education, prevention, treatment, behavioral intervention and comprehensive social control, Xinhua said.

The regulation stipulates that no unit or individual shall discriminate against AIDS patients and HIV carriers and their relatives nor infringe upon their lawful rights in medical treatment, employment, study and other social activities.

AIDS patients and HIV carriers are also eligible to get married, according to the regulation. They previously had been banned from getting married.

By the end of July, Jiangsu province had 100 AIDS patients and 537 HIV carriers, according to official figures.

Though the number of AIDS patients in Jiangsu is lower than in the top 20 AIDS-afflicted provinces, the growth rate there is 30 percent higher than the national average, said the report, which did not give details.

Emerging from early denial that China has an exploding AIDS problem, the central government has vowed to fight discrimination against the growing population of HIV/AIDS patients, who officially number 840,000 carriers.

The true figure is believed to be much higher and the United Nations says the number could rise to 10 million if the epidemic is not treated seriously.

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