A doctor at Danzhou First People's Hospital gives a phony medical report to a hepatitis B carrier. [File Photo: hinews.com]   Feb.9 - A local hospital in Danzhou in southern China's Hainan province is selling phony medical reports to hepatitis B carriers.

 

A report on Hainan Daily says hepatitis B carriers can pay 200 yuan or 25 US dollars for a negative report from Danzhou First People's Hospital without undergoing any tests.

 

According to a doctor in the hospital, they usually sell five to six phony reports a month to virus carriers.

 

China has an estimated 120 million people infected with the hepatitis B virus, roughly 10 percent of the country's total population. Most of them face barriers and social discrimination in finding a job and attending school.

 

Chinese scholars have called for improved protection of the labor rights of hepatitis B carriers, since many are unable to secure jobs with local governments and companies.

 

Li Kungang, associate professor at the law school of Beijing-based Renmin University of China, said he has seen a number of reports on job discrimination against hepatitis B sufferers in recent years.

 

He said it's a huge waste of human resources and will exacerbate social tensions if this massive group of people is not provided with proper jobs.

 

Ye Jingyi, a professor at Peking University's law school, said under China's previous system, companies had to foot the bill for all medical expenditures of hepatitis B carriers. They run a greater risk of developing liver cirrhosis and cancer.

 

She observed society shouldn't ignore the plight of carriers, adding the government should rapidly enact laws against job discrimination.

 

In April 2004, Zhao Xiaohua won a lawsuit against the personnel affairs bureau of the Wuhu government in eastern China's Anhui province after being rejected for a job because he was a hepatitis B carrier.

 

It was considered a landmark case, since it gave carriers a lift in their fight for equal employment opportunities.

 

While there are no national laws or regulations forbidding hepatitis B carriers from joining the public service, many local and central government departments have issued their own regulations to bar them.

 

However, some local administrations, including those in central Hunan and southwestern Guizhou provinces, have lifted the ban on employing hepatitis B carriers.