ZHENGZHOU, Feb. 12(Xinhuanet)-- Nie Zhan, an AIDS patient in central China's Henan Province, never expected she would talk face-to-face with Premier Wen Jiabao, let alone shake hands and pose for a photo with him.

The 40-year-old peasant was one of the HIV/AIDS sufferers from Shangcai county present at a meeting with the premier during his tour of the county, the worst hit by the deadly epidemic in the country, on Tuesday, the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year.

Nie said she was reluctant to join in the meeting with the premier in the first place."I'd have been quite happy if I were healthy, but I felt perplexed and ashamed as an AIDS patient," shesaid in an interview with Xinhua on Saturday.

But Nie"felt much better" when Wen told them they were unfortunate but not shameful to suffer from HIV/AIDS.

Nie and her husband Liu Wenzhang are both AIDS victims from Wenlou village, which has the biggest number of AIDS patients in the county because the poverty-stricken villagers used to sell blood for a living.

Though the central government has offered free medication to the villagers, the side-effects of the drugs are a problem for many patients."I raised the question at the meeting with Premier Wen," said Nie."He promised then and there that when better drugsare available-- whether imported or homemade, they'll be offered to patients in Shangcai county, particularly Wenlou village, firstand foremost."

The Premier's commitment almost moved the simple peasant woman to tears.

Since her meeting with Premier Wen, Nie has found to her surprise that more people are coming to visit her-- mainly to hear details about that meeting.

"Our house is filled with visitors, all smiling and friendly--we haven't had so many guests for years," she said."We should thank the Premier for bringing us such festiveness. He's restored my confidence in life."

The central and local governments in recent years have made every effort to help the AIDS-hit villages in the central province:free medication is offered to the patients and free schooling to their children; welfare homes are built for children orphaned by AIDS, and officials from the provincial government are stationed in the worst hit villages to fight the disease, build infrastructure and help the villagers support themselves.

Nie and her husband, for example, can work again after effective treatment. Last year, they had a net income of more than10,000 yuan(1,200 US dollars) by raising more than 100 pigs, and bought a color TV, a sofa and a motorbike.

Their Wenlou village also ushered in changes. With new schools,hospitals, roads, parks and tap water in every household, the village is no longer isolated from the world.

The village, along with several other villages in Shangcai county, has hit the headlines of worldwide media over the past decade for high incidence of AIDS, a result of illegal blood dealsbefore 1995.

The poverty-stricken Shangcai county is located in the southeastern part of Henan Province and is home to over 1 million people.

Ministry of Health statistics say China's interior region has about 840,000 AIDS/HIV carriers. Since the first case was diagnosed in 1985, AIDS has been a very sensitive topic in China because the ways it's spread: sexual intercourse and drug abuse via injection.

Since the beginning of 2004, the Chinese government has been openly tackling the problem. Through leaders visiting AIDS patients, free checkups and medication, intensified publicity workand a nationwide crackdown on drugs, China hopes to curb the epidemic, which experts warn needs urgent attention and may undermine the national economy unless addressed properly.