The National Defense University was fined NT$1 million (US$31,878) for discriminating against a student with HIV and forcing him to drop out of school, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday.
After the university learned that the student, named A-li (a pseudonym), had tested positive for HIV during an annual health examination in early 2012, it asked him to keep his meal tray, eating utensils and clothes separate from those of other students and barred him from taking swimming classes, while teachers often suggested that he drop out of school.
The hospital that conducted the exam had given the university the test results without A-li’s consent.
He was expelled the following year, shortly before he was due to graduate, for bad conduct, including having a bad attitude and disrespecting teachers.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the CDC filing an administrative suit against the university over A-li’s case, but the Taipei High Administrative Court in March ruled in favor of the school in part because the university falls under the remit of the Ministry of National Defense, not the health ministry.
The health ministry and the CDC appealed the case to the Supreme Administrative Court in April.
As the lawsuit has continued for two years, the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) sent a letter to the CDC last month, expressing concern about the case and citing verdicts of cases in four nations about the right to education for people with HIV/AIDS.
The CDC said it had decided to fine the university for contravening 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).
CDC Deputy Director-General Chou Jih-haw (周志浩) said the fine is the first the agency has issued on the grounds of education discrimination, as well as the biggest fine it has ever imposed.
If the school is willing to reach an out-of-court settlement in the administrative suit with the health ministry over the case, the CDC would not issue the fine, Chou said.
However, if it continues to refuse to reinstate the student or reach an out-of-court settlement, it could be fined repeatedly, he said.
“We want to stress that we will not give up any chance of communicating, of achieving a win-win situation, or even a triple-win situation — meaning that the university, the student and the government agencies can all will in pursuing human rights for people with HIV/AIDS,” Chou said.
“If we cannot allow infected people to feel that they can expect a good future in society, then how can we expect them to accept HIV/AIDS screening and cooperate in HIV/AIDS prevention,” he said.
The university yesterday said that it “has never discriminated against people with HIV/AIDS and no student has been expelled from the school for having HIV/AIDS.”
A-li was punished because he had violated the school’s information security rules and did not achieve the minimum standard for morality grades, and he was expelled according to assessment guidelines and a resolution of its disciplinary committee, the school said.
Additional reporting by staff writer and CNA
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