Underreporting, Discrimination Facilitates Spread of HIV/AIDS in Taiwan: Doctor

The News Lens
Date: 2016/08/19
By: Yuan-ling Liang

Following the case of a student who was expelled from a military university after he tested positive for HIV, a doctor warns that discrimination against people with AIDS has led to underreporting of the disease in Taiwan.
Many Taiwanese are not getting tested for HIV/AIDS for fear of discrimination against the disease, according the director of the Taiwan AIDS Society,

“Citizens are not willing to get tested because of the discrimination against HIV that exists in society,” Dr. Dr. Lin Si-syun (林錫勳) told a forum in Taipei today, adding that some patients refuse to receive medical treatment after diagnosis.

The reporting rate of HIV in Taiwan is only around 70 percent, 20 percent lower than the international average, which means the disease has a higher chance of spreading undetected, he says.     [FULL  STORY]