Aizhixing Institute of Health Education

History

The AIZHI Action Project first operated out of Beijing University, but officials forced the university to close it down. In 2000, the group released writings by Gao Yaojie, who was trying to draw attention to the Bloodhead scandal in Henan. On July 1, 2002, the government officially banned the organization. Its founder, Wan Yanhai, then registered AIZHI with the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, allowing it to reopen as a for-profit business since registering as a non-profit was much harder. In September 2003, the non-profit issued a report accusing the Chinese government of actively blocking efforts to stop the AIDS epidemic, denying people treatment and care, preventing HIV/AIDS information from being shared, and promoting lawlessness and corruption in many regions. In December 2004, Aizhixing co-organized a conference on AIDS, law, and human rights with the Shanghai University School of Law, held in Shanghai. After a 2005 law restricted NGO activities, the group changed its name to the Beijing Aizhixing Information Consulting Center. In 2006, it received a combined grant of $179,113 from the National Endowment for Democracy and the U.S. State Department for programs inside China. In December 2010, authorities launched an investigation into the group, citing tax regulations. On March 11, 2011, officials demanded the removal of a letter from its website that implicated two government officials in a blood transfusion scandal linked to Henan’s HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1990s; the website was shut down on March 15. In 2012, the Guangzhou branch closed after staff reported being threatened by police.