Gao Yaojie (c. 1927–)
Gao Yaojie (c. 1927–)
Chinese gynecologist and AIDS activist. Born c. 1927 in Henan Province, China; m. Guo Jiuming (physician).
Was a professor at the Henan Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, an expert on gynecological cancer, a deputy to the 7th People's Congress of Henan Province, and a researcher at the Henan Provincial Research Institute of Culture and History; following retirement, crusaded to help poor farmers in Henan Province who became infected with HIV through selling their blood at illegal collection stations (1990s); began to suspect that up to 100,000 people in Henan might be infected with HIV; put under investigation and warned not to speak out, used her pension to travel remote villages, lecturing, distributing flyers and pamphlets, and dispensing medical care; won the Jonathan Mann Award for Health and Human Rights (2001) but was refused permission to attend the awards ceremony in US; won the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service (2003), Asia's equivalent to the Nobel Prize.