China Blocks Hep B Patient Rights Website Just Before World Hepatitis Day

StephenW

http://www.techinasia.com/china-blocks-hep-patient-rights-website-world-hepatitis-day/#comment-35210
China Blocks Hep B Patient Rights Website Just Before World Hepatitis Day

12 hours ago by C. Custer, in Opinion, Web

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World Hepatitis Day is July 28th; it’s a day that’s meant to raise awareness of hepatitis B and C and encourage prevention and treatment. But according to the AIDS Policy Project, China’s biggest hepatitis B Patient Rights website was blocked in the country just before World Hepatitis Day. The reasons for the block are unclear, but several days later, the site remains blocked.
The site — In the Hepatitis B Camp Network — is a nonprofit BBS forum that serves as a “camp” for China’s hepatits B patients, of which there are around 120 million. It serves as an important place for information exchange among patients about rights, treatments, and ways to deal with the disease. That’s especially important in China, where Hep B patients are highly stigmatized. From AIDS Policy Project:

In China, due to the exaggeration on seriousness of HBV in HBV medicine advertisements and incapability of government, the HBV-related discrimination and stigma is very serious and widespread, the fundamental rights of work and education of the people with HBV positive are deprived brutally. According to a research in 2007, more than 20 laws contained discriminatory articles against HBV carriers [...] In 2003, ‘In the Hepatitis B Camp Network of China’ started an anti-discrimination citizen campaign through rational and legal means and has become one of the main forces in fighting against the HBV-related discrimination in China since then. During the past nine years, the website supported hundreds of HBV carriers to sue many state owned companies, multinational companies and local governments for employment discrimination, and to sue many schools and universities for rejecting children with HBV, regardless of the risk of revenge.

It’s not clear whether that campaign has resulted in the website being blocked, but whatever the reason, let’s call this what it is: disgusting. The stigmatization of hepatitis patients and carriers of other diseases in China can be rather extreme, and the internet should be a tool that offers patients the support they need while promoting awareness and rationality among others so that patients are treated like human beings. Blocking a major site like this is heartless, and only serves to further the nonsensical stigmatization of Chinese hepatits B patients. Blocking a major site like this on the eve of World Hepatitis Day…now that’s just despicable.
[via AIDS Policy Project]

StephenW

中国块前世界肝炎日乙肝病人权利网站

C.卡斯特，在12小时前看来，网络


世界肝炎日是7月28日，它是一个旨在提高对乙型和丙型肝炎的认识，并鼓励预防和治疗的一天。但是，根据艾滋病政策项目，中国最大的乙肝患者权利的网站被封锁在世界肝炎日之前的国家。块的原因还不清楚，但几天后，该网站仍然受阻。

- 在的乙型肝炎营网络 - 该网站是一个非盈利性的BBS论坛，作为中国的乙型肝炎患者，其中有大约120万的“阵营”。它作为有关权利，处理，以及如何处理与疾病的患者之间的信息交流的重要场所。这是特别重要的是在中国，乙肝患者的高度污名化。从艾滋病政策项目：

    在中国，由于对乙肝病毒的严重性，在乙肝药物广告的夸张和政府无能，乙型肝炎病毒有关的歧视和侮辱是十分严重和普遍，与HBV阳性的人的工作和教育的基本权利被剥夺残酷。据研究，在2007年，20多个法律中对乙肝病毒携带者的歧视性条款[...] 2003年，“在中国的B型肝炎营网络开始反歧视的公民运动，通过合理的手段和法律手段，并已成为争取在HBV相关性，自那时以来对中国的歧视的主要力量之一。在过去9年中，该网站支持数百名乙肝病毒携带者，许多国有企业，跨国公司和地方政府的就业歧视起诉，控告许多学校和大学拒绝乙肝病毒的儿童，不论报复的风险。

目前还不清楚是否该活动已导致在被封锁的网站，但无论什么原因，让我们称之为它是什么：恶心。肝炎患者及其他疾病的携带者，在中国的耻辱，可能是比较极端的，互联网应该是一个工具，可以提供患者他们需要的支持，同时促进人的意识和理性，使患者像人类一样对待。阻止这样一个各大网站是无情的，只会进一步无意义的耻辱，中国乙型肝炎患者。阻断这样一个世界肝炎日前夕各大网站......现在，这只是卑劣。