The Persons with HIV/AIDS Rights Advocacy Association of Taiwan (PRAA) issued a joint statement with the Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline Association denouncing Kaohsiung Medical University Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital for conducting an unauthorized HIV test on a gay male patient earlier this year.
The Greater Kaohsiung City Government’s Department of Health imposed a NT$30,000 (US$1,000) fine on the hospital in March after ruling that its conduct constituted a violation of Item 4 of Article 15 of the HIV Infection Control and Patient Rights Protection Act (人類免疫缺乏病毒傳染防治及感染者權益保障條例).
It is the first time the government has issued a fine in a matter of this nature.
PRAA secretary-general Lin Yi-hui (林宜慧) told the Taipei Times in a telephone interview yesterday that the man in question, who wanted to be referred to by his full name, Chen Yu-jen (陳育仁), filed a petition with the department after he discovered to his astonishment that a urologist at the hospital from whom he had received treatment earlier this year for kidney stone problems had used a sample of his blood drawn for another reason to test for HIV without his knowledge or consent.
The urologist was allegedly aware of Chen’s homosexuality.
“Chen’s case has galvanized quite a heated online debate after his experiences were published by some local news outlets. Some netizens threw their support behind Chen, while others justified the hospital’s conduct by saying that the safety of medical professionals should not be put at risk,” Lin said.
“So we felt obligated to make our stance known on the matter by issuing the statement,” she added.
The statement made three demands.
They were that hospitals abide by the law and refrain from conducting HIV tests on patients without their consent; that the safety of medical personnel and the autonomy of patients should both be guaranteed; and that hospitals should recommend HIV tests for patients based only on their own medical professional judgement, rather than on patients’ sexual orientation.
The statement has received endorsements from 28 civic organizations, including the Taiwan Gender Equity Education Association, the Taiwan LGBT Family Rights Advocacy and the Judicial Reform Foundation.
A Chinese aircraft carrier group entered Japan’s economic waters over the weekend, before exiting to conduct drills involving fighter jets, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said yesterday. The Liaoning aircraft carrier, two missile destroyers and one fast combat supply ship sailed about 300km southwest of Japan’s easternmost island of Minamitori on Saturday, a ministry statement said. It was the first time a Chinese aircraft carrier had entered that part of Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), a ministry spokesman said. “We think the Chinese military is trying to improve its operational capability and ability to conduct operations in distant areas,” the spokesman said. China’s growing
BUILDUP: US General Dan Caine said Chinese military maneuvers are not routine exercises, but instead are ‘rehearsals for a forced unification’ with Taiwan China poses an increasingly aggressive threat to the US and deterring Beijing is the Pentagon’s top regional priority amid its rapid military buildup and invasion drills near Taiwan, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday. “Our pacing threat is communist China,” Hegseth told the US House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense during an oversight hearing with US General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “Beijing is preparing for war in the Indo-Pacific as part of its broader strategy to dominate that region and then the world,” Hegseth said, adding that if it succeeds, it could derail
COMPLIANCE: The SEF has helped more than 3,900 Chinese verify documents, indicating that most of those affected are willing to cooperate, the MAC said More than 3,100 spouses from China have submitted proof of renunciation of their Chinese household registration, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The National Immigration Agency has since April issued notices to spouses to submit proof that they had renounced their Chinese household registration on or before June 30 or their Taiwanese household registration would be revoked. People having difficulties obtaining such a document can request an extension of the deadline or submit a written affidavit in lieu of it. The council said it would hold a briefing at 2:30pm on Friday at the immigration agency’s Taichung office in cooperation with the
The government-funded human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination is to be expanded to boys at junior-high school starting in September, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. The Taiwan Society of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, the Taiwan Association of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the Taiwan Immunization Vision and Strategy, the Infectious Diseases Society of Taiwan, the Taiwan Head and Neck Society, the Formosa Cancer Foundation and the National Alliance of Presidents of Parents Associations held a joint news conference in Taipei yesterday to raise public awareness about the risks of HPV infection, regardless of gender. Invited to give an address, HPA Director-General Wu Chao-chun
RSS