Following the release of an open letter by a former health official calling for an investigation in to the HIV epidemic caused by blood-selling, a group of HIV patients petitioned in Beijing demanding better treatment. From Global Times:
About 50 out-of-town AIDS patients have been petitioning authorities in Beijing in recent days to show their anger at insufficient medical services, poor education and inadequate financial assistance.
Ye Haiyan, a volunteer with non-governmental China Grassroots Women’s Rights Center, said most of the patients came from Xincai county, Henan Province.
Tuesday, the patients gathered at the Beijing Aizhixing Institute, an NGO that assists AIDS patients, then visited the offices of the health and education authorities in Beijing.
Yang Zhengnan, who became infected after a blood transfusion in 1995, suffered from cerebral in-farction as a result and struggles to pay medical expenses. “I need to pay for blood transfusions myself. I have paid 4,000 yuan ($600) for that last year.”
