Vice-Premier weighs in on HIV patients hospital rejection

Tianjin's Health Bureau says a hospital that rejected a lung cancer patient after finding out he was infected with HIV will face serious punishment.

The man later forged his medical chart and had the surgery performed. The resulting uproar has even prompted Vice-Premier Li Keqiang to weigh in on the case.

After seeing a news report about the case on Wednesday, Li called an unidentified health minister and demanded that the health authorities take concrete measures to "ensure the rights of HIV/Aids patients to medical care without any discrimination as well as the personal safety of the health workers who treat or are in close contact with these patients", the Ministry of Health said.

Tianjin's Health Bureau said an initial investigation had found that the Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital discharged the patient after finding out he had HIV/Aids and it was studying the law with a view to imposing serious punishment on those involved.

Another Tianjin hospital, which performed the surgery, did not see any in-hospital contagion or contamination, but the bureau also said HIV/Aids patients should not withhold information about their condition from doctors to avoid spread of the virus.

A 2006 law on the prevention and control of HIV/Aids forbids medical institutions from denying treatment to patients with HIV/Aids, but they say they still face unfair discrimination, even at hospitals. They say they are frequently denied medical care once their HIV status is revealed, and some have had to hide the condition from doctors or choose not to go to hospital. Some doctors turn down HIV/Aids patients by saying they should seek treatment in a specialised infectious-diseases hospital.