By Mikaela Chase
Guangdong Province appears likely to be the first province in China to end mandatory HIV testing for prospective teachers. Currently, teaching candidates must take an HIV test as part of the required physical examination for teachers. Those who test positive for HIV/AIDS are effectively disqualified and banned from working in the education sector. On May 27, the Guangzhou provincial education department made public their revised health standards; as of September 1, people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) will be able to work as teachers (along with other previously excluded groups, including applicants with physical disabilities). The issue of employment discrimination against PLWHA in China received international attention this January, when the Nanjing-based nonprofit Justice for All obtained compensation for the plaintiff in the first ever successful AIDS employment lawsuit.
Last summer, Asia Catalyst and the Korekata AIDS Law Center also reported on a related policy concerning real-name HIV testing, when such testing–supported by the Ministry of Health –was proposed in Guangxi and Hunan provinces. Because of the outcry from civil society organizations, the language in that regulation was eventually changed. However, widespread breaches of confidentiality and anonymity in HIV testing are already a problem for many in China. Our key recommendation in that report was to expand laws and regulations protecting confidentiality and hold testing centers accountable for upholding those laws. If Guangdong officials effectively implement the new regulation ending mandatory HIV testing, this will be a significant step in the right direction.
Employment discrimination against PLWHA is widespread and common, especially in the civil service. The 2006 [National] Regulations on HIV/AIDS Prevention and Treatment issued by the State Council were meant to provide general protections for the legal rights of PLWHA; however, provincial and local authorities may override these protections in the interest of public health and safety. Since there is no specific national law governing employment discrimination with respect to PLWHA (and other groups that routinely face discrimination), substantial variation exists in provincial regulations and local bans on PLWHA holding jobs in the civil service and the education sector still remain.
Many Chinese and local NGOs have hailed Guangdong’s decision to revise its discriminatory health standards as a long-overdue triumph. In January of this year, a bill was proposed in Guangdong that would have expanded officially sanctioned discrimination to include not only HIV but also other sexually transmitted infections (including gonorrhea, syphilis, genital warts, etc.), provoking a wave of anti-discrimination lawsuits. Though most of these lawsuits were unsuccessful, many were assisted by advocacy efforts from NGOs. As a result, PLWHA and rights activists raised awareness of employment discrimination and involved new stakeholders in their struggle. The revision to the regulation eliminating mandatory HIV testing was in fact proposed by Equity and Justice Initiative, an NGO based in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, according to the People’s Daily online. Taiwan’s The China Post reported that Lu Jun, the head of Yirenping (a legal rights group in Beijing), welcomed Guangdong’s new health standards as a “breakthrough” that brings China more in line with international standards of anti-discrimination and rights protection laws.
With reportedly 780,000 people living with HIV/AIDS as of 2011, and the number of PLWHA continuing to increase, this victory in Guangdong is a sign of change that will only grow with increased advocacy and support. It has also revived hope among some who have been discriminated against because of mandatory HIV testing for prospective teachers. Xiao Qi (not his real name), who obtained compensation for discrimination against PLWHA in the groundbreaking lawsuit mentioned above but who has yet to find work as a teacher, told the People’s Daily that the Guangdong regulation has inspired him to keep his dream alive: “”I never want to abandon my dream of becoming a teacher,” said Xiao.”I hope Guangdong’s new health standards will spread across the country.”
Mikaela Chase joined Asia Catalyst in May 2013.
