HBV carrier in China wins fight against discrimination
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A university student who has fought discrimination against Hepatitis B virus (HBV) for three years received a health certificate Wednesday allowing him to work in the pharmaceutical industry.
Lei Chuang, 23, a postgraduate at Shanghai Jiaotong University, started his struggle against discrimination in 2007 when his brother was rejected by a state-owned enterprise for having HBV.
Lei applied for the certificate on Feb. 22 and received it two days later.
"Actually I was not sure I could get the certificate, since the Ministry of Public Health had not explicitly lifted the ban for the pharmaceutical industry," he said.
But Zhejiang Provincial Human Resources and Social Security Department and Public Security Department have jointly launched a campaign, titled "Spring Thunder," to stop discrimination against HBV carriers, which helped Lei's case.
The ministries of Human Resources and Social Security, Public Health and Education banned HBV tests for school enrollment and recruitment on Feb. 10, 2010.
Lei got his health certificate for working in the food industry on Sept. 1, 2009 after the Regulations of China's Food Safety Law were implemented in July, 2009, lifting a ban on HBV carriers working in restaurants and other food-related jobs.
Interactions in schools and work will not transmit HBV, since it can only be passed on through blood transfusion, mother-to-child transmission and sexual contacts, according to medical studies.
"Lei is the first HBV carrier to get a pharmaceutical industry health certificate from our center," said Dai Zeli, head of the health service center at the Xiaohehu villa community in Hangzhou, the provincial capital of Zhejiang.
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