City to enact AIDS law
16/12/2004 17:59
Shanghai will enact a law to prevent and control the spread of AIDS,
today's Oriental Morning Post reported, as revealed at yesterday's international
conference on AIDS legislation.
Citing health officials, the report said the
city has basically completed the research for the legislation. The law
will probably be unveiled next year if the legislation work is smooth and the
draft passes the scrutiny of the Shanghai People's Congress, the city's
law-making panel.
"AIDS legislation is urgent, as the existing regulations
have become insufficient to treat, control and prevent AIDS," said Zhu Huimin,
director with Shanghai Public Health Bureau's regulation department.
"We need
more scientific guidance to help the public intervene in and control the spread
of this fatal disease," he added.
The current regulations targeting AIDS are
mainly penalties for drug addicts and prostitutes, and they are not enough,
according to Xia Guomei, with the AIDS social policy study center with
Shanghai's Academy of Social Sciences.
Xia's colleague, Professor Zheng
Leping, echoed his opinion, saying the penalties were more likely to frighten
away HIV/AIDS carriers than to have the victims receive proper treatment and use
protection.
A more effective way would be to change the activities that could
possibly incur HIV infection, they believed.
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