Legislators, medical professionals and HIV/AIDS support groups had mixed reactions yesterday to a proposal to include a note on the HIV/AIDS status of individuals on their National Health Insurance cards.
The proposal was suggested as a way of avoiding a repeat of the errors that led to two local hospitals carrying out several organ transplants from a donor who had been HIV-positive.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators Yang Li-huan (楊麗環) and Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) have backed the proposal.
Yang said the human rights of both HIV/AIDS patients and others should be protected and that indicating the cardholder’s status was a “necessary” step. Cheng said medical personnel have a responsibility to maintain patient confidentiality, but must also have access to vital information to keep them safe.
However, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Chiech-ju (陳節如) said the proposal was “not a good idea.” She suggested that information on HIV/AIDS status be registered with the Centers for Disease Control, which could provide hospitals with the information on a need-to-know basis.
Bureau of Medical Affairs Director Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said a similar proposal had been made before, but was opposed by human rights groups, who said it would further stigmatize those with HIV or AIDS.
“A note on the card [on HIV/AIDS status] could violate 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),” Shih said.
Centers for Disease Control Vice Director-General Shih Wen-yi (施文儀), however, said that such a notation would be an extra precaution against error.
Nevertheless, Wei Jeng (魏崢), director of the Heart Center of Cheng Hsin General Hospital, and Chu Shu-hsun (朱樹勳), president of Far Eastern Memorial Hospital, said diseases such as hepatitis and gonorrhea can also be passed on through blood.
“The hospital should conduct thorough checks on [organ and blood] donors and the key point is to be rigorous with such tests,” Wei said.
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
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