China court to hear first HIV discrimination suit

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]








BEIJING: A Chinese court was Wednesday to begin hearing the case of a man who alleges he was denied a job because he is HIV-positive, in what state media has said is the nation's first such discrimination case.

The plaintiff, who has only been identified by his alias Xiao Wu, filed the suit against the education department of Anqing city in the eastern province of Anhui, the official China Daily reported.

The lawsuit alleges city officials denied the plaintiff, a recent college graduate, a teaching job after a medical screening for illnesses including syphilis and hepatitis C revealed he had HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

The screening was held after he had already passed written tests and interviews, the report said.

"I think we have a good chance of winning the case, as denying Xiao Wu a job just because he is HIV-positive is against the Employment Promotion Law and the regulation on AIDS prevention and treatment," lawyer Li Fangping was quoted as saying.

An official at the Yingjiang district court confirmed the case had been accepted but declined to say if the hearing had begun. Li and the plaintiff's other attorney Zheng Jineng were not immediately reachable by phone.

The plaintiff is asking for the education department to review its decision and give him the job, the report said.

AIDS has long had a heavy stigma attached to it in China, with sufferers forced to hide their condition. However, there have been recent signs that attitudes are changing.

The government has started talking more openly about HIV prevention and control in China, though people with HIV/AIDS still encounter huge discrimination in employment, education and healthcare.

China says that at least 740,000 people are living with HIV but campaigners say the actual figure could be far higher.

The head of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibe, warned last year that 50 million people in the country were at risk of contracting the AIDS virus, mainly through unprotected sex or the sharing of needles.

Despite signs of openness, the hassling of some independent campaigners and organisations has nevertheless continued.

High-profile activist Wan Yanhai, whose group helped uncover a major tainted blood-selling scandal in the 1990s, fled to the United States with his family earlier this year because he said he feared for his safety.