The News Lens
Date: 2016/04/27
Compiled and translated by Bing-sheng Lee
A student at the National Defense University was expelled from the school after he was found
AIDS
diagnosed with Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). The Center for Disease Control (CDC) filed an administrative litigation against the school for the student, but the court ruled against CDC . The CDC says it would appeal against the ruling.
The student was diagnosed with AIDS fours years ago. Upon learning about the student’s condition, the school prohibited him from taking swimming classes and required that his food, plates and clothes must be washed separately from those of other students.
Each week, school officials would ask him to take a leave of absence because “he was feeling bad both physically and mentally,” and asked him to drop out of school because “his classmates thought he was weird.” In the end, the school even threatened the student that it would notify his family of his condition if he didn’t drop out.
When the student was about to graduate, the school expelled him after accusing him of having a disobedient attitude and being disrespectful to teachers. The student then went to the Persons with HIV/AIDS Rights Advocacy Association of Taiwan (PRAA) and CDC for help.
Lin Yi-hui, secretary-general of PRAA, says the student learned about his condition from the results of the annual health examination at the school. She thinks the school’s obsolete attitude towards AIDS and the improper measures it took to address the issue has hurt the student. [FULL STORY]
