[COMMENTARY] In China, HIV & HCV Transmission through Blood Continues

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This blog is a cross posting from Seeing Red in China.  It was written by Dr. Wang Shuping on the occasion of World Aids Day.  It has been translated from the original Chinese by Cao Yaxue.  Asia Catalyst’s China Program Officer, Mike Frick recently wrote about Dr. Wang’s experience on our blog; read that piece here.

I am Wang Shuping, and, as a doctor and epidemics researcher, I was the one who first discovered Hepatitis C virus and HIV contamination in plasma collection stations mushroomed in China in the 1990s. Hundreds of thousands of innocent people became infected as a result. Twenty years have passed since those frightful discoveries, the current state of blood safety in China, to my dismay, still presents an alarming picture of continuing transmission of HIV and HCV through blood. On World AIDS Day today, I would like to call attention to the matter to raise the public’s awareness and warn the policy makers.

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[JOB ANNOUNCEMENT] Executive Director, Asia Catalyst

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As we announced last month, Asia Catalyst founder Sara L.M. Davis will join the Board of Directors, and will resign her post as executive director in January 2013. The Board of Directors has appointed Andrea Worden as Acting Executive Director through June 30, 2013. The Board is now beginning its search for a permanent executive director. Please help us to circulate this job announcement.

The text of the position description follows in this blog post, or download the PDF here.

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[NEWS] PFLAG China: Fighting Adoption Discrimination against Gay and Lesbian Families

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pflagchina.pngBy Mike Frick

Recently, Chinese activists have drawn attention to discriminatory statements by the China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA). The CCAA has publicly stated that it does not permit Chinese gays and lesbians to adopt children. In a message posted on its website, the agency says that medicine considers homosexuality a type of medical illness and a”sexual disorder”, that Chinese law does not recognize homosexual families, and that homosexuality is a “behavior contrary to public morality.”   The Chinese Society of Psychiatry declassified homosexuality as a mental disorder in 2001.

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[UPDATE] Cross Post From China Law and Policy: LGBT Rights in China

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The following piece is cross-posted from China Law & Policy about the November 7, 2012 event “China’s Comrades: New Developments in LGBT Rights” that Asia Catalyst co-sponsored with The Leitner Center for International Law and Justice at Fordham Law School.  China Law & Policy believes that an understanding of the development of the Chinese legal system is integral to an informed U.S. policy toward China.
By Elizabeth M. Lynch

Last week, the day after the United States elected its first openly gay Senator and more states extended the right to marry to gay couples, Asia Catalyst and Fordham Law School’s Leitner Center co-hosted a fascinating talk about Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) rights in China entitled “China’s Comrades.”

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Asia Catalyst Announces Leadership Transition

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Capacity-builder of Non-Governmental Organizations in Asia Expands and Announces Interim Director

(New York, November 15, 2012)–The non-profit incubator Asia Catalyst announced today that Sara L.M. Davis will leave her post as executive director to join the Global Fund in January 2013. Dr. Davis, who is also known as Meg, is the organization’s founder.  The Board of Directors has appointed Andrea Worden, a lawyer and human rights advocate, as Acting Executive Director.

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