The Korean government recently deported a Korean Chinese man on the basis of his HIV positive test results. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRCK) stated this was a violation of his human right to health care. The individual came to Korea and visited a health facility to have a voluntary HIV test; upon receiving his results, staff of the facility immediately took him to the local immigration office where he was detained until deportation. The NHRCK stated that this deportation violated his rights because the individual had no family in China and would be unlikely to find work in the country, thus lessening his ability to receive proper health care. The Korean government has immigration laws that allow for the deportation of those carrying serious or infectious disease; 521 of 647 foreigners infected with HIV are deported per annum. The danger in this, according to the Korea Federation for HIV/AIDS Prevention, is that many foreigners will hide their infection and forego treatment in order to stay in the country.
I think the last statement of this article is incredibly important: if you make those infected with HIV/AIDS afraid of voicing their condition, they will ultimately not receive treatment. HIV/AIDS can be treated with medication to lessen the negative effects of the disease; those who receive this treatment live productive lives, and those who do not receive this treatment die at young ages. To me the fact that this medication exists should mean that every person has an equal right to access it, but often social stigmas, economics, and - in this case - legal actions prevent this basic human right from coming to fruition.
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/03/113_19987.html
2 comments:
I couldn't agree with you more, Emily!! And it's for this reason alone (and of course others) why people don't go get tested. Instead, their speading the infection to others, making the aids population simltaneously increase. It's sort of like that old saying, "I'm damned if I do, and I'm damned if I don't."
I agree with you both...they should not put people in those types of situations at any time. If I just found out that I have disease that I know is uncurable and I also know that Im going to die from it the last thing I want to hear is that I am being deported! That is definetly killing two birds with one stone!
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