In the good news category, UNAIDS has recently come out strongly in favor of China’s Blood Disaster: The Way Forward, a joint report published by Asia Catalyst and the Korekata Law Center this year. The statement, available here boldly calls for ‘comprehensive and inclusive process of consultation and dialogue involving representatives from government, civil society, people infected through contaminated transfusions, legal experts, academia and other relevant fields.’
[REPORT] Dream of Ding Village
The following is a cross post from the great people at The China Beat. The site provides context and criticism on contemporary China from China scholars and journalists.
By Mike Frick
“Since you have gone, the house is empty, it has been three seasons now
Extinguish the lamps, let the twilight come, we must endure the setting sun”
Extinguish the lamps, let the twilight come, we must endure the setting sun”
–Chinese funeral couplet
In 2000-2001, Elisabeth Rosenthal published a series of reports in the New York Times that alerted the world to a startling AIDS epidemic among farmers in central China. Beginning in the early 1990s, thousands of farmers in the Yellow River provinces of Henan, Hebei, Hubei, and Shanxi had contracted HIV through commercial blood selling. Local government officials in Henan promoted blood and plasma selling as a rural development scheme that would lift farmers out of poverty.
[NEWS] Global Times Condemns Forced Labor in Drug Detention Centers
According to official statistics over 171,000 drug users underwent forced drug treatment, in China, in 2011 alone. While a joint statement cosigned by 12 UN bodies in March 2012 calling for “States to close compulsory drug detention and rehabilitation centers” did not force China to close its drug treatment centers, a highly critical article from the Global Times, an official media outlet, may point to a shift in the right direction.
The article highlighted personal stories of drug users and NGOs like Asia Catalyst’s partner the Dongzhen Nalan Culture Communication Center, praising reforms including promoting counseling and community rehabilitation.
[NEWS] CHINA’S CHONGQING CITY REFORMS LAW ON SEX WORK/ 重庆市对卖淫嫖娼者不再进行劳动教养
New changes to Chongqing City’s local laws now eliminate reeducation through labor as a form of punishment for sex workers and their clients. China’s reeducation through labor system allows police to sentence people without trial for minor crimes. While far from decriminalizing sex work Professor Yang Weidong of the National School of Administration notes that with this important step ‘the legitimacy of reeducation through labor has been questioned.’ Read the article here (in Chinese.)
法制网报道，重庆市修改地方法规，删除对卖淫嫖娼者实行劳动教养的规定。详细的中文报道，请查看这里。
[COMMENTARY] A Different -and Tragic- Outgrowth of the Chinese Healthcare System
A disturbing trend is underway. According to an editorial in the latest edition of The Lancet, there is a surge in patient violence against doctors in Chinese hospitals. Root causes include “poor investment in the health system and in training and paying doctors, which can lead to medical errors, corruption, and poor communication between health professionals and patients.” The Lancet also highlights societal factors such as “negative media reports about doctors, poor public understanding of medicine, unrealistic patient expectations about treatments, and catastrophic out-of-pocket health-care expenses for families.”
