[REPORT] HIV Real-Name Testing: Is China Ready? (2012)

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By Meg Davis and Shen Tingting

About 4 months ago, Guangxi and Hunan provinces announced plans to require real-name testing for HIV, and the Ministry of Health expressed support stating it should be a national policy. Immediately there was a huge outcry from the China Association of People Living with HIV/AIDS, the China Gay Male Health Forum, and others.
A joint report from Asia Catalyst and Korekata AIDS Law Center calls on China to protect patient confidentiality, provide counseling, and end compulsory testing in order to encourage more people to get tested for HIV. Without these basic rights, Chinese government programs that aim to expand HIV testing will not succeed.

The following briefly outlines our joint report and conclusions, but first we want to tell you about a community-run HIV testing program right here in Beijing, which has been dealing with these issues on the ground.

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[EVENT] Come See Asia Catalyst at AIDS 2012

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Please join Asia Catalyst in a series of workshops, roundtables, and presentations on HIV/AIDS and human rights in Asia. Look for us at our Global Village, or online at asiacatalyst.org, @saralmdavis, and https://www.facebook.com/asiacatalyst 

Below is the complete list of all our events and the presentations by the China delegation with time, date, location. See you there!
 
Sunday, July 22: 
 
Know It, Prove It, Change It Workshop 
Through a hands-on approach, participants will gain a basic understanding of the international human rights framework and how it applies to HIV, core skills in human rights research and documentation, and the basics of human rights advocacy planning. Our training curriculum handbooks will be provided. The workshop will be led by Karyn Kaplan (Thai AIDS Treatment Action Group), Sara L.M. Davis (Asia Catalyst) and Shen Tingting (Korekata AIDS Law Center). Chinese language translation available. 
Time: Workshop: 2:00-6:00pm; Buffet dinner: 6:00-8:00pm 
Pre-registration required: Open to all staff of AIDS NGOs, whether or not you are registered for the conference. Please contact Shalena Krumm (skrumm@asiacatalyst.org) to register.

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[EVENT] We Can End AIDS March For Economic Justice and Human Rights

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July 24th, 2012 Downtown Washington, D.C. 

On Tuesday, July 24, we want you to mobilize in the streets for economic justice, human rights and an end to AIDS as the massive International AIDS Conference meets in Washington DC. 
Over 30,000 people from local DC neighborhoods, across the USA, and worldwide – will march together to illuminate the social and economic costs of putting profit in front of the resources, rights and policies that can end AIDS. 
Together, we will call out to our leaders this clear, compelling truth: 
We can end AIDS in the next generation, through economic justice and human rights to bring prevention, treatment and a cure to all. 

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[NEWS] Quilt 2012: The International AIDS Quilt Turns 25

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With AIDS 2012 (International AIDS Conference) right around the corner, and the 25th anniversary of The AIDS Memorial Quilt, this year Washington, DC is becoming a hub for HIV/AIDS awareness.

The AIDS Memorial Quilt, originally conceived of in 1987, in San Francisco, has now become an international symbol of the human toll of the AIDS epidemic as it aims to “inspire action in the age of AIDS.”

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[NEWS] Lesbian Blood Ban Lifted in China, Though Restrictions on Gay Men Stand

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China’s Ministry of Health announced this month that they have lifted the ban on lesbian blood donation put in place in 1988. The lifetime ban on blood donation by gay men will stand.

Blood donations are an important component of the growing public health system in China and were thrown into the spotlight after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Xian, the director of Beijng-based lesbian organization, Tongyu, applauded the change in guidelines, telling the Global Times “It is also about our dignity and the elimination of blood donation discrimination.”

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