Wang Yuanyuan

    MANY medical professionals are afraid to give treatment to HIV carriers.

    It was extremely dangerous for untrained staff to treat carriers of sexually transmitted diseases. Moreover, many other patients would seek to escape if they knew that HIV carriers were among them, said an unidentified doctor at Shenzhen People's Hospital.

    "Once a man came to our department with a fever. He secretly told me he was a HIV carrier, but a patient standing next to me heard it and immediately fled. He told other patients waiting outside and most of them quickly dispersed," said the doctor.

    The doctor said although it was unlikely that the disease could be transmitted by simply standing next to a sufferer, it was still a source of fear to most people.

    "As medical staff, we have a duty to every patient, particularly those in serious conditions. The nervousness that comes from being around a HIV carrier is not good for the mental well-being of patients or staff," the doctor said.

    According to research, the chance of being affected with AIDS through injury is only 0.33 percent. If the wound is cleaned and disinfected in time and AIDS prevention drugs are prescribed, it is almost impossible to get infected.

    "However, it is still dangerous to doctors and nurses. There was a young pregnant nurse at our hospital. She had to get an abortion because her finger was injured when injecting an HIV patient. There was no danger to her baby, but she was scared for herself," said Tang Xiaoping, former president of Guangzhou No. 8 People's Hospital.

    It is common for nurses in the AIDS department to keep the nature of their work secret from their family because they don't want them to worry, said Tang.

    "Ignorance about AIDS is key to the problem, but it is very difficult to tell the public that HIV is not a deadly disease, no more dangerous than hepatitis B," said Tang.

    Cai Weiping, director of the infectious diseases department of Guangzhou No. 8 People's Hospital, said the danger to medical staff had also been exaggerated. "There has never been a case in China of medical staff getting the disease due to occupational exposure. This risk should not be exaggerated or be used as an excuse to shift responsibility," he said.

AIDS' route of infection was the same as hepatitis B, so it was illogical for hospitals to give treatment to hepatitis B patients but not AIDS or HIV patients, said Cai.

    "The country should take effective measures to discourage hospitals from discriminating against AIDS or HIV carriers. Moreover, hospitals who specialize in those diseases should receive more support from the government,” said Cai.

    In Cai's opinion, a more realistic way is to help improve the facilities at places like the No. 8 hospital. "Then carriers will have a place to receive treatment for other diseases," said Cai.