Peng Liyuan (C, front), the wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, attends a China-Africa meeting on HIV/AIDS prevention and control in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 4, 2018. Peng, together with spouses of African heads of state and government, launched an initiative at the meeting for joint efforts by China and Africa to combat HIV/AIDS. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao)

BEIJING, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Peng Liyuan, the wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, on Tuesday attended a China-Africa meeting on HIV/AIDS prevention and control in Beijing.

Peng, together with 37 spouses of African heads of state and government, launched an initiative at the meeting for joint efforts by China and Africa to combat HIV/AIDS.

Making concerted efforts against HIV/AIDS has become a global consensus, and cooperation between China and Africa in this regard has been effective, said Peng, who also reviewed her work as the World Health Organization (WHO) Goodwill Ambassador for Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.

She said the on-going Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation has provided new opportunities for deepening China-Africa cooperation on HIV/AIDS control.

China, African countries and relevant international organizations will begin implementing in 2019 a three-year project on HIV/AIDS prevention among adolescents and health promotion at community level, Peng said.

At the meeting, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and Michel Sidibe, executive director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, made positive comments on China-Africa cooperation on combating HIV/AIDS and highly commended Peng's outstanding contributions to raising awareness of HIV/AIDS prevention and caring for AIDS patients.

China has been actively supporting African countries in combating HIV/AIDS, sending medical teams to more than 40 African countries and providing them with free medicine, medical equipment and supplies.