A proposed revision to the AIDS Prevention Act (後天免疫缺乏症候群條例) could deprive patients of their rights to education and work in the name of public health, AIDS prevention groups said yesterday.
Article 6 of the AIDS Prevention Act protects the rights of people living with AIDS and prohibits discrimination against patients with HIV. The law also prohibits refusing AIDS patients access to education, medical treatment and work.
The revision proposed by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Hou Shui-sheng (
AIDS prevention groups described the revision as a step backward.
"Protection of the rights of patients with HIV is the foundation of AIDS prevention," said Ivory Lin (
Only by reintegrating patients living with AIDS into society can people learn how to contain the disease, Lin said.
"In an amiable environment where people with AIDS can work with us or live in the same community, people can gain a wider knowledge about this stigmatized disease. They will not panic when they are informed that they have HIV. They will also know where to seek medical help," she said.
"Patients with HIV do not pose a threat to a well-informed society," said Pail Hsu (徐森杰), the chief of the Lourdes Home in Taichung.
Lourdes Home is the only Catholic organization in Taiwan that offers free services to people living with HIV/AIDS.
"The route of transmission is clear -- unsafe sex and dirty needles have been the major causes of the spread of AIDS. There is no solid evidence to suggest that allowing patients with HIV to work or study will fuel the spread of AIDS," Hsu said.
Human-rights groups criticized Hou and the other 36 legislators who support the revision, saying they are ignorant of how to promote AIDS prevention.
"They simply don't know that protecting patients is the very first step in combating any disease. Legislator Hou, in particular, is notorious for his discrimination against gay people," said Wang Ping (
Hou, a surgeon who represents Tainan County, came under fire in 2003 when he said that legalizing gay marriage would result in the annihilation of a nation because same-sex unions could not produce offspring for sustainable development.
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
RSS