A Letter From China

Hepatitis B discrimination in China is very serious. The Chinese government is planning to enact a policy to permit kids who carry Hepatitis B virus to enter kindergartens. This policy is in the hearing process (the deadline is Aug. 15). There are many opposed voices in the Chinese society. Please help us to convince the government to pass this policy and other related policies!

From 1990s to present, kids who are carrier are disenfranchised the right of entering kindergartens. They have no friends to play with, they cannot receive preschool education and they are labeled as “infection patients”. You can image that almost every kid in this situation has more or less psychological health problem. Please help these disadvantaged children and their heart-broken mothers.

According to professional theories, people may be infected Hepatitis B by three methods: blood-borne transmission, sexually transmission, and maternal-neonatal transmission. The healthy virus carriers have no hazards to the public. However, because of misunderstandings and some policies, the Hepatitis B carriers are discriminated and nearly abandoned by the whole society.

Fortunately, Chinese government already realized this issue and began to modify some related policies and laws step by step. However, the most critical policies and laws are still in the pending status. Please share your professional thoughts of how to treat people with disease equally. Please help us to get more support from international experts of infectious disease or gastroenterology. We do need your professional knowledge to help us convince the Chinese society.

Hepatitis B discrimination in China is so critical that following population groups need your help.

Pregnant women and newborns: Most carrier pregnant women are forced to deliver babies in infection hospitals which means the babies’ birth certificates are marked “born in infection hospital”. These cute babies have to carry this burden for the whole life no matter he/she is Hepatitis B carrier or not, just because their mothers are virus carriers. They are labeled since born. We admit that some pregnant women need to deliver babies in infection hospitals because their health condition, but for healthy carriers, please do not force them!

Preschool children: About 90-95% babies of carrier mothers are lucky to avoid infected Hepatitis B by shooting vaccines. However, there is still 5-10% babies become Hepatitis B carriers. As mentioned above, no kindergarten accepts them. Discrimination, aloneness, depression and other negative influences accompany with them since about 2 years old and last for their whole lives. Please give them a chance to play and learn in kindergartners like other kids!

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Students in elementary schools, junior/senior high schools: Most schools accept carrier students, but there are still some schools refuse to accept carrier students or force carriers to drop off schools!

Students in higher education areas: Carrier students have fewer boundaries to apply undergraduate programs than to apply graduate programs. There are quite a lot of graduate schools refuse to admit carriers no matter how outstanding the students are. Please help them to realize their dreams!

Young people in job markets: Experiencing all challenges above, these carriers eventually graduate and begin to look for jobs. They can pass several competitive interviews, but there are shoot down by blood test. No offers, no future, no hope. Please give them work opportunities. They need to live!

You may wonder that health history should be personal privacy. Technically, you are right. Medical history should not be disclosed to anyone unless the person him/herself agree. But, Hepatitis B carriers in China have not any privacy. We are labeled, we are discriminated, and we need your help!!!

Below are some links relevant to Hepatitis B discrimination. These articles are only a tiny part of an iceberg. Most of articles talk about suicide caused by discrimination. I did not select articles related to depression, anxiety and other negative experience because there are too many. I am sorry that all articles are in Chinese. If you need, I could translate some of them.

Again, appreciate for your great help in advance! We cordially turn to your for help. Please use your expertise, no matter in which field, to help us.

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Best Regards

An carrier

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Hepatitis B Discrimination Report http://www.hbver.com/Article/ygqs/ygqs/200908/6649.html

Some carrier mothers’ experience: no kindergarten accepts their kids. All mothers are suffering blame from family members, discrimination from society and guilty when they face their kids. A mother even killed her son and then committed suicide in 2008. http://www.chinaedunet.com/yejy/jjnews/2009/5/content_169989.shtml (May, 2009)

Zhou Yichao’s story: Zhou was an outstanding and sunshine young man. After graduated from a famous university, he passed all interviews in local government recruitment. However, because he was a carrier, he was rejected. He killed two HR persons and then waited for arrest. Zhou was executed for voluntary manslaughter. He was the only child of a widow and was only 22 years old at that time. http://www.people.com.cn/GB/shehui/1063/2692956.html (Jan. 2003)

Lei Chuang’s story: Lei was rejected by a graduate school of Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) because he is a carrier. He wrote letters to 500 academicians and asked them for help. Finally, although the CAS didn’t admit him, he was admitted by another graduate school. http://www.china.com.cn/city/txt/2008-10/22/content_16647727.htm (Sep. 2008)

A 18 years old young man committed suicide because of Hepatitis B discrimination http://bbs.66wz.com/viewthread.php?tid=189862 (Jul. 2006)

A young female carrier committed suicide because she was fired by a company and cannot found other jobs http://www.people.com.cn/GB/shehui/47/20020411/707346.html (Mar. 2000)

A 16 years old student was forced to drop of school because he is a carrier. http://news.dayoo.com/society/57401/200904/15/57401_5694601.htm (Apr. 2009)

A Ph. D student committed suicide because he was a carrier. http://news.qq.com/a/20050213/000031.htm (Feb. 2005)

A 32 years old young man committed suicide by burning himself because of Hepatitis B discrimination http://www.qingdaonews.com/content/2007-02/16/content_7728065.htm (Feb. 2007)