Obviously (well in TW anyway), a health check with a positive will stop a resident visa application, but what’s being suggested is a pretty gross violation of human rights.[/quote]
Certain diseases, such as syphilis, HIV and polio are “notifiable diseases” under almost all health laws everywhere. The problem in Taiwan - and other places too - is that notification is also given to immigration.
HG
Isn’t it always. And they think they deserve to be a member of the UN. Why don’t they fuck off first?
Taiwan is is no way unique in this, by the way. Many countries don’t allow visas to HIV positive people.
HG
Yeah, but we talkin more than this though, aren’t we. As I said, HIV+ may scupper the resi visa (which is bad enough, I mean fucking why? Even PRC are gonna outlaw that one), but to have zero confidentiality is something else. Nice policy, that’s really gonna encourage people to take a test.
I’d be interested to know a list of other scumbag nations that make lepers of those who have been brave enough to take a HIV test.
China?
More here on countries that impose restrictins, including the US.
[quote]United States of America
In principle, the USA refuses entry to foreign nationals known to be HIV positive. In exceptional cases, a stay of 30 days may be granted (for family visits, medical treatment, business travel or participation in a scientific, health-related conference).
HIV testing or a medical exam are not required. In the visa application form, the applicant has to say if he/she has a “communicable disease of public health significance”. The visa will be denied if this is the case. An applicant who answers “no” despite better knowledge commits an immigration fraud, which leads to immigration prohibition.
HIV-positive foreign nationals lose their right to remain in the USA and are expelled if their status becomes known.[/quote]
HG
China: are going to change their regs on this.
US: Will it necessarily become known? If you take a test in US (while you have a visa), are the testers obliged to inform immigration, and will you be booted out as a result?
[quote=“Shanghai Chek”]I’d be interested to know a list of other scumbag nations that make lepers of those who have been brave enough to take a HIV test.[/quote]Shanghai Chek -
Not directed at you personally, but I question this view.
It is fully within the rights of a country to not want to grant access to individuals who are carriers of contagious diseases. It is in the best interests of their populace to monitor these conditions at their borders.
Looking dispassionately at this, denying entrance to a contagious disease carrier is a logical action.
I see no “bravery” in merely taking an HIV test. Why not? If someone has the potential, for whatever reasons, to be infected with the HIV or any other contagious disease it would look to be in their best interests as well as the best health interests of others for them to become aware of the current state of their health.
2 sides of the coin.
As I continually mention, Hepatitis is a huge problem here on the island. I personally would like to see everyone working in the food and service industries here to undergo mandatory Hep screening.
Did you know that 10,000 + children under 12 yrs old die every year here as a result of Hepatitis and related liver diseases? All preventable and treatable.
Sorry…no sympathy from me on this one. Its a contagious disease that is preventable.
Perhaps you’ve never taken one, so I’ll fill in a bit of detail. You go for a test with possible symptoms. Let’s say it’s a neg. But that’s not it. You must then wait 3 months + time to process the second test to obtain a definitive result. A degree of bravery is required to endure the 3 month wait.
I still don’t see why movement should be restricted for those HIV+. As you say:
[quote]Its a contagious disease that is preventable.[/quote]and it’s difficult to transmit.
What you’re taklking about is a possible three month window between getting infected and testing positive for HIV.
HG
It is. And what do you think goes through one’s mind during this period. That alone is enough to discourage many from taking the test in the first place.
If a person tests positive, I don’t think they should be booted out of a country and have their already complicated lives turned upside down. They should receive advice and medication (one pill a day I believe now for what is basically a manageable, chronic condition).
Well I think anyone having a HIV test is doing so because there is some chance they may have the disease, so obviously it’s a make or break time waiting for the results, regardless of at the beginning or end of that three month window.
Agree wholeheartedly that penalising people for fessing up with their status - voluntarily or othwerwise - is counter productive.
A mate of mine was ushered into a room and told he was HIV positive when he went to pick up his medical test results in Taiwan several years back. After an initial period of “oh my god”, he asked to look at the results and at that point noticed it wasn’t his name on the form. He went ballistic explaining how they’d just broken all kinds of moral and ethical issues.
HG
That would be the first thing going through my mind if I ever had to undergo a serious medical test in TW. They’ll fuck it up. And yes, that means I believe practically none of the shit they write on my visa medical form… well maybe they managed to measure my height correctly, but I knew that already.
Damn, boy, but you really seem to hate the Taiwanese, don’t you?
[quote=“Huang Guang Chen”] He went ballistic explaining how they’d just broken all kinds of moral and ethical issues.
HG[/quote]
Think I would have been more ballistic at their stupidity and the unacceptable level of risk to my cardiac health 
Hate? I don’t have a lot of faith in the ROC authorities. How about you? What do you think, to stay on topic, of a country that disregards a person’s right to medical privacy and kicks them out the country? In the UK being HIV+ is not grounds for deportation, and you can get the test done anonymously at every major hospital and a number of charitable organisations (we have 1 such possible centre listed here for TW). Do you think that’s wrong?
Why don’t I leave? Why don’t they improve? They do want to don’t they 
The way he described it, he called to say he was running late and the clinic had advised the positive chap to come late to pick up his results. My mate arrived before the other chap and the clinic staff nervously jumped the gun. His point was that the foreign community back then was so much smaller that the odds he might’ve known the chap were high. He was also rather frantic to make sure that it was in fact a mix up.
HG
I have at least as much faith in the ROC authorities as I do in the UK authorities. Don’t forget that in the UK you can stay there for years claiming benefits and promoting terrorism, thanks to the sheer brilliance of the authorities. Or die in a filthy hopsital of MMSR, thanks to those wonderful authorities. Or see the thugs who attacked you in the street and slashed your face open get no more than a slap on the wrist from the courts, thanks to the wisdom and justice of the UK authorities.
No, on the whole, I think the authorities here do just fine.
How about this issue? How would you feel about being booted out of the country as the result of a routine health check?
Not as a result of a routine health check. As a result of having a notifiable disease. Pretty wise move, I’d say.
How would you feel about dying in a stinking hospital of a disease you caught there due to the filthy conditions?
Agree with that do you? Sandman says you have no right to medical privacy, and should be deported if you have HIV(?)