Editorials

Stamp out discrimination

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-29 07:55

Editor's note: China's decision to lift the ban on the entry of foreigners with HIV/AIDS has unexpectedly met with immediate negative public responses online.

Knowledge about HIV/AIDS has deepened and broadened to such an extent that previous practice prohibiting patients of the illness and other infectious diseases from entering our country contradicts our pledges to be open.

Article 99 of the detailed rules for the implementation of the country's Border Quarantine Law and clause 4 of article 7 of the Law on Control of the Entry and Exit of Foreigners are questionable on both medical and moral grounds.

They are also in conflict with the 2008 United Nations Human Rights Council resolution on the elimination of discrimination against leprosy patients, which our government has signed.

Yet, policymakers may be surprised by the immediate public response to their decision to lift the outdated ban on the entry of foreigners with HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases and leprosy. Most of the responses online have been negative.

To medical experts, the main argument behind the popular opposition may sound ostensibly untenable - there are tons of medical evidence showing that normal contact with HIV patients poses no risk at all to uninfected people, with the modes of transmission for such diseases defined well.

Still, most of those who bothered to post their comments online share the concern that the latest move may result in a dramatic rise in HIV infections in our country.

This can readily be attributed to popular ignorance. The mostly unnecessary worries are based directly on inadequate knowledge about those diseases.

But why is that? High-profile public awareness campaigns have evidently failed to achieve their objectives.

There are also complaints concerning transparency. Many wondered why such a major decision was made without consulting the public. They are not necessarily against the outcome. But in terms of procedure, this is something to reflect on. People are serious about what the government promises.

(China Daily 04/29/2010 page8)