HIV patient denied lung surgery, vice premier asks medical equality

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Li asked the Ministry⁴ of Health (MOH) on Wednesday to guarantee the right to medical treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS, according to the ministry's official website.

Li was quoted by the website as telling MOH that people with HIV/AIDS should not be discriminated⁶ against, and that work should be done to guarantee the safety of doctors and nurses treating HIV-positive patients.

The website said Li made a phone call after learning that a HIV-positive lung cancer patient was denied treatment and ended up falsifying his medical records in order to obtain surgery.

The 25-year-old patient, with a pseudonym⁷ of Xiaofeng who lives in Tianjin, was denied by two hospitals after his HIV-positive status was detected. He eventually got the surgery after concealing⁹ his condition.

The Tianjin Municipal Health Bureau on Thursday confirmed that the Tianjin Tumor¹⁰ Hospital had rejected lung cancer surgery for an HIV-positive patient.

The bureau said to penalize¹¹ responsible people based on the Regulations on the Prevention and Treatment of HIV/AIDS (RPTH).

Xiaofeng, who is resting at home after the surgery, said to protect the rights of HIV/AIDS patients, he will sue the doctors and hospitals that denied him the surgery.

Although the RPTH stipulates¹³ that HIV-positive patients cannot be denied medical services or treatment, people with HIV/AIDS often face discrimination when they go to hospital.

Lu Hongzhou, a member of the disease prevention and control expertise¹⁴ committee under MOH, said, "The society should work to eliminate people's, especially medical practitioners', discrimination against and fear of HIV carriers," Lu said.

Despite the national regulations and relevant training, they need time to eliminate the psychological obstacle. "It takes more than professional ethics¹⁵ to solve it," Lu said.

According to a 2011 report jointly¹⁶ released by the China Alliance of People Living with HIV/AIDS (CAP+) and the International Labor¹⁷ Organization, apart from fear, hospitals' excessive and unnecessary HIV tests are another reason and many HIV/AIDS patients get turned away by hospitals.

Meng Lin, coordinator¹⁸ with the CAP+, said in many other countries, whether a person is an HIV carrier or not is a privacy, and medical services should conduct such tests on a voluntary basis.

"Doctors will assume that every patient is potentially infectious and protect themselves based on universal precautions," Meng said.

In comparison, most hospitals in China require patients to receive an HIV test before surgery so doctors can react in a timely and appropriate manner in case of an emergency during surgery. Therefore, if a patient is confirmed an HIV carrier, the safety of medical practitioners often outweighs¹⁹ patients' rights to receive surgery.

Some hospitals are specifically open to people living with HIV/AIDS, which has also become an excuse for other hospitals to turn away HIV-positive patients, experts said.

In China, there is no law guaranteeing compensation to medical practitioners infected with HIV in the course of treating such carriers, aggravating²⁰ the problems HIV/AIDS patients face in seeking medical treatment.

While many people criticize Xiaofeng for putting doctors at risk by concealing his HIV-positive status before the surgery, Li Hu, who released Xiaofeng's story at the Internet, expressed his understanding, as he is also HIV-positive.

"He did it only because he wants to live," said Li, a volunteer with a non-governmental organization on HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention in Tianjin.

He advocated legislative²¹ efforts to stipulate¹² penalty clauses for hospitals that reject or discriminate⁵ against HIV/AIDS patients.

"Under a sound mechanism²², people with AIDS might not conceal⁸ anything from doctors," he said.

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