Teams also exchange ideas with their Chinese colleagues on treatment choices and the functioning of the health system. In Shaanxi, MSF welcomes about 50 street children at a small center in Baoji, offering them shelter, food, medical care and schooling. Basic care is also given in mountainous Qighai province, in the town of Jiqu. MSF is working on a complete renovation of the town's clinic and also offers basic medical care. In Yunnan, MSF has been improving the water supply in several areas, with a focus on improving water quality rather than quantity.
Hygiene education is an important part of the project, as is consultation with villagers.
It is estimated that one million Chinese will have HIV by the end of 2000. However, because the AIDS epidemic is underplayed by the government, accurate figures are not available. In the southern Sichuan province, a similar project has been underway since September 1999. In both programs, MSF works closely with the authorities to reach health care workers and people at risk of infection. Public information campaigns, often the only legal way to talk about condom use in the country, are an important part of MSF's work.