As the international community marked World AIDS Day yesterday, researchers and AIDS awareness groups said that Taiwan has a long way to go in establishing a comprehensive medical treatment system and a mechanism to protect the rights of those with HIV.
"Of the three main aspects that the UN uses to evaluate Taiwan's ability to deal with AIDS, Taiwan is good at only `prevention' by offering free medication to those with AIDS, but is totally unqualified regarding the `treatment' and `human rights' protection provided to these carriers," said Ivory Lin (
The Taiwan Root Medical Peace Corps yesterday released a survey of its investigation into medical professionals' understandings of AIDS, in which some 70 percent of the interviewees said that they have never taken any professional training in dealing with HIV/AIDS.
The number of people with HIV in Taiwan has been increasing at an average annual rate of 20 percent since 1984, when the first case was discovered, according to the Department of Health.
If this trend continues, the number of people with HIV will rise to 15,000 by 2011, costing the nation an estimated NT$26 billion (US$764.70 million) in medical expenses.
By the end of October, there were 4,590 people in Taiwan diagnosed as having HIV, 373 of them foreigners, according to the Center for Disease Control. Another 820 have died as a result of contracting the disease.
In the Taiwan Root Medical Peace Corps' survey, in which 1,292 medical professionals were interviewed between June and September, 65.3 percent of the interviewees had no idea about what to do if they accidentally pricked themselves with a syringe needle that had been used on an HIV patient.
Although it is rare for HIV to be transmitted through needlesticks, this kind of injury is common among health-care workers.
The survey also showed that more than 60 percent of interviewees would worry becoming infected with HIV when treating patients with the disease, although less than 50 percent said they would refuse to treat HIV patients.
Lin said the survey reflected her own experience of assisting HIV patients, adding that it was difficult to find doctors willing to treat them.
Many doctors and hospitals refused to treat HIV carriers, Lin said, and doctors who were required by the government to treat them often neglected patients' rights.
"There are 26 hospitals around Taiwan required to treat AIDS patients, but many of them were quick to point out their inexperience from the start and asked patients not to blame them if they couldn't be cured," Lin said.
"Aside from the shortage of medical treatment, many of our regulations prohibit AIDS patients from taking many jobs in Taiwan, which infringes on these people's human rights. How will the government deal with these discriminatory laws?" Lin said.
The health department could not be reached for comment.
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