Chinese teacher with HIV wins compensation in landmark labour law case

Source: South China Morning Post

A HIV-positive school teacher in southwestern China whose job contract was not renewed won a court battle yesterday as a judge ruled the local government must pay him compensation.

The victory, described by mainland media as the first of its kind, came more than a year after the 33-year-old – identified by the pseudonym of Li Cheng and from the Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture in Guizhou province – filed a civil lawsuit against local education and human resources authorities, the Beijing Times reported.

The judge at the county court ruled the education bureau of Liping county should pay Li 9,800 yuan (HK$11,700).

It said the bureau had violated labour law when it abruptly ended the contract with Li, who had served for three years at a local middle school. It ruled that the county’s human resources department was also responsible. More

11/5/2016

UN, social groups join hands to help women living with HIV

Source: China.org

It was barely a month ahead of the delivery of her child, a highly exciting moment for a mother, when Li Qing, a young woman in Jiangyou, Sichuan Province, realized that she was diagnosed HIV positive, a shocking announcement which erased all her happiness three years ago.

Many stories like Li's are particularly prevalent in China's far-flung countryside where women do not have enough awareness of how HIV is transmitted from many sources, especially from their partners. The dignity and equality for women who have succumbed to the disease has become a big concern for the UN and a number of social organizations, such as the Women's Network Against AIDS-China, which is engaged in joint efforts in hope that the AIDS epidemic can be terminated by 2030, a proposal agreed by global leaders at the UN General Assembly in September of 2015.

On Friday, two books entitled "My Children and I — Stories of A Mother Living with HIV" and "Power of Women" developed by the Women's Network Against AIDS-China and supported by the joint hands of UNAIDS, UN Women and the British Embassy in Beijing made their debut at Ditan Hospital, where the first case of HIV across the country was diagnosed in 1987. The books were published amid concerted efforts of both domestic and international communities to help women suffering from AIDS live with zero discrimination. More

12/5/2016

Woman with HIV Undergoes C-Section, Delivers Healthy 'Pigeon Pair'

Source: womenofchina.cn

A woman infected with HIV gave birth to a healthy pair of opposite-sex twins on May 10, in central China's Hunan Province, thanks to the common efforts of diligent and well-prepared doctors.

The mother, surnamed Jiao, was already 37 weeks into pregnancy when she came to seek treatment at the province's maternal and child healthcare hospital.A week later, the woman was diagnosed as HIV positive, and the doctors immediately decided to carry out a Caesarean section.

To prepare for surgery, the physicians got fully equipped with protective clothes, goggles, masks, rubber overshoes and two pairs of gloves.About 30 minutes into the operation, the twins were successfully delivered. Both the mother and the kids did well.

Ever since their birth, the two babies have been prescribed medication for blocking mother-to-child HIV transmission. They are bottle-fed, healthy and energetic, with instructions from the doctors. Their mother has also been recovering well from the surgery. More

14/5/2016

Surge in syphilis as safe-sex message gets lost in Hong Kong

Source: South China Morning Post

Reported HIV rates have recently climbed to levels unseen in Hong Kong since the mid-1980s. Despite condom advertisements and poster campaigns plastered from one end of the city to the other, it is tragically obvious that safe-sex messages are still going unheeded – especially by young people. Syphilis – largely eliminated by the 1950s due to the introduction of penicillin – has experienced a dramatic parallel resurgence.

Comparisons can be drawn between currently spiraling HIV infection rates and the late 19thcentury global syphilis crisis. Syphilis, then, was as feared as HIV/Aids was a century later, and for similar reasons. Those infected became ill for a short period and then recovered to more or less full health; meanwhile, the disease stealthily crept through their systems. Then – like full-blown Aids – syphilis suddenly and horrifically erupted. All manner of awful secondary infections and complications, each more debilitating than the last, overwhelmed and finally killed its victim. More

10/5/2016

Mainland mother demands compensation from Hong Kong hospital over false HIV result

Source: South China Morning Post

A pregnant woman who was told by hospital staff that she was HIV-positive but was later found to be free of the dreaded virus has demanded compensation for her distress from Union Hospital.

The private hospital in Sha Tin apologised for that distress and the inconvenience brought to the woman and her family.It also returned her the hospital stay deposit and blood test fee.

Local media reported that the 34-year-old woman, who was four months pregnant with her second child, tested positive for the human immunodeficiency virus in a screening at Union Hospital early last month.She later went to Prince of Wales Hospital for another blood test, and was found to be free of the virus that causes AIDS.