Row erupts over Lu's AIDS plan

"The idea that AIDS is punishment from the gods does not conform to science. We know that AIDS was transmitted to humans by chimpanzees."

Chen I-min, president of Hope, an AIDS prevention organization

AIDS activists yesterday condemned remarks Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀連) made at an AIDS prevention event on Sunday, calling her understanding of the illness backward and insufficient.

"Apparently, the human rights that Lu advocates are conditional. If you are an AIDS patient, you are not accorded the same type of human rights as others," said Lin I-hui (林誼慧), secretary-general of the Persons with HIV and AIDS Rights Advocacy Association of Taiwan.

In her speech on Sunday Lu suggested that the government establish villages for people with AIDS and HIV so that patients could live openly and come out of the shadows. She also said the spread of AIDS was a form of punishment from the gods.

Lu's AIDS village suggestion has been harshly criticized. "Of course AIDS is not a case of punishment from the gods. Each human being is created individually," Department of Health Director General Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) said.

According to Lin, "this type of thinking is an attempt to control society. Living with an AIDS patient will not lead to infection. Furthermore, AIDS patients themselves are capable of earning a living if they use the cocktail of medication that is currently available."

Lin also criticized Lu for implying that HIV and AIDS are strictly sexually transmitted.

"Lu's comments are quite hurtful to HIV carriers and AIDS patients. It's very outdated to assume that AIDS is only transmitted through sex. We know that AIDS can be transmitted from mother to child and through sharing needles as well," Lin said.

In response to the criticism, the presidential office yesterday issued a statement to clarify Lu's remarks. According to the statement, Lu had said: "People say that the spread of AIDS has resulted because the gods could no longer tolerate the current situation and so issued a punishment. Without this punishment, humans would be no different from animals."

According to the statement Lu's remark was meant to point out the lack of a strong ethical stance on sexual behavior and the lack of a willingness to reform.

She had meant no disrespect to AIDS patients, the statement reads.

Ou Nai-ming (歐乃銘), director of the Center for Disease Control's division for AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases, said there is no place for ethical judgments in AIDS prevention.

"The main problem with an AIDS village is that it does not solve the problem of learning how to take care of AIDS patients," Ou said.

Ou said that the controversy was probably the result of semantic confusion, saying that Lu, not a medical professional, had chosen inappropriate terminology in calling for an AIDS village.

Chen I-min (陳宜民), president of Hope, an AIDS prevention organization, said Lu's remarks were unfortunately timed. "The event [on Sunday] was a rare opportunity to link the national AIDS campaign to the human rights campaign. It's too bad that Lu made these remarks. The idea that AIDS is punishment from the gods does not conform to science. We know that AIDS was transmitted to humans by chimpanzees," he said.

"Patients have a right to receive good treatment, but gathering all patients together to form an AIDS village would be a human rights violation," Chen said.