New national standards say that Hepatitis B (HBV) carriers in
whom the disease has not manifested itself may still qualify for
government jobs, the ministries of health and personnel
announced.
Lawmakers have completed a draft on health qualifications for a
recruitment drive, and the two ministries are soliciting public
opinion on the draft from August 1 through August 31. So far,
public opinion suggests that the rule, the first national one of
its kind, means discriminatory hiring practices like this will
start to be dismantled.
Under the Constitution, every person has an equal right to
employment. There is no legal basis for any form of discrimination
when it comes to working.
The World Health Organization reports that the prevalence of
chronic HBV infection is high -- more than 8 percent -- in China.
Some estimates put the figure at approximately 120 million, a
number equivalent to the total population of France and Britain
combined. Many show no symptoms and do not pose a threat to their
coworkers.
But they are often discriminated against when it comes to
education, employment, health care and many other aspects of
life.
The hepatitis B virus is spread through the exchange of bodily
fluids, such as contaminated blood, unprotected sex, shared needles
and infected mother-to-baby contact. It cannot be contracted
through casual contact.
"Carriers will not infect people if their liver function indices
are normal," Dr. Ouyang Wuzhi, of the Nanjing No 2 Hospital in Jiangsu
Province.
HBV carriers should be treated as normal people, according to Xu
Diaozheng, a professor of epidemiology from the Peking
University.
The newly drafted standards also state that people carrying the
Hepatitis C virus, but whose liver functions are normal, are
qualified to become public servants.
The draft does not address public servants' physical appearance,
but said eyesight must meet a certain standard and may be corrected
with glasses.
The draft listed 22 diseases that disqualify people from holding
public posts. Severe heart disease and high blood pressure top the
list.
In April last year, senior university student Zhou Yichao in
east China's Zhejiang
Province stabbed two officials, killing one, when he discovered
that despite passing all examinations and interviews, he was not
eligible for a civil service job because he was an HBV carrier.
Zhou was later sentenced to death.
But Zhou's case prompted discussion of discriminatory hiring
practices and the lack of legal redress.
Zhang Xianzhu, another graduate rejected by a state employer
after testing positive later the same year, filed the country's
first HBV discrimination lawsuit against the government of Wuhu, a
city in east China's Anhui
Province, in December.
The court backed Zhang's discrimination claim, yet inexplicably
denied his request to order the government to find him a job.
Such cases have sparked heated debate in the media, and the
local government revised its recruitment policy for civil servants
this year.
(China Daily August 11, 2004)