Rights activists yesterday voiced their opposition to a proposal to add special markings on the health insurance cards of people who are HIV positive, as a measure to prevent infection during operations or organ transplants, arguing that this would not only violate patients’ right to privacy, but that it also would not serve the purpose it was intended to.
Following a scandal that broke last weekend in which National Taiwan University Hospital and National Cheng Kung University Hospital failed to identify an HIV-positive organ donor in advance and transplanted his organs into five HIV-negative people, some politicians — such as Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators Yang Li-huan (楊麗環) and Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) — have proposed that the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bureau should add special marks on the NHI cards of people who are HIV positive to prevent similar incidents.
However, rights activists said that such a measure would not help and would violate HIV and AIDS patients’ privacy.
“There is no connection between safety in organ transplants and adding a special mark on the NHI cards of people who are HIV positive,” Persons with HIV/AIDS Rights Advocacy Association of Taiwan secretary-general Lin Yi-hui (林宜慧) told a news conference in Taipei.
“In fact, I think adding the mark may make the situation worse,” she said.
She said that the best way to prevent HIV infection during operations or organ transplants was to follow the standard operational procedures thoroughly, and to check whether a person has HIV at the time of the operation.
“Better training for medical personnel may be a better idea than marking the NHI cards of people who are HIV positive,” she said.
“Having no mark on the NHI card doesn’t mean the person doesn’t have HIV, because the majority of people never go for an HIV test, and being HIV negative at the time when they were tested doesn’t mean that people are not HIV positive at the time of their operations,” Lin said. “Hence, marking the NHI card doesn’t help solve the issue, rather, it may put medical personnel under greater threat.”
Taiwan Lourdes Association secretary-general Hsu Sen-chieh (徐森杰) said it was irresponsible to put the burden of HIV infection prevention on people who are HIV positive.
He added that having the proposed HIV marking on NHI cards may effect patients’ right to regular visits to a doctor.
“According to our studies, as many as 25 percent of patients who identified themselves as HIV positive to medical personnel have been refused medical services,” Hsu said. “So, if their NHI cards are marked, such people may just ‘forget’ to bring their NHI cards along when going to hospital.”
He added that besides better training programs for medical personnel, the government should deliver more accurate information to the general public about HIV/AIDS, and raise public awareness about the diseases.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
RSS