Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has decided to impose a hefty fine on National Defense University for its discrimination against a student who was expelled after testing positive for HIV.
CDC Deputy Director-General Chou Jih-haw on Monday called such discrimination the biggest barrier to AIDS prevention. Chou said, though, that while the CDC will impose a NT$1 million fine (US$33,000), there is room for making things easier for all parties involved.
“The health ministry, the supervisory body [by law], is able to impose a fine of between NT$300,000 to NT$1.5 million. But we want to emphasize again that [we] will not give up any opportunity to communicate with the [university], nor will we give up seeking a win-win or even a win-win-win situation when pursuing human rights for AIDS patients,"said Chou.
"That includes the National Defense University, the [student] in question, and the health authorities."
With paperwork still under way on the case, Chou called on the Defense Ministry to carefully review the case again and try to reach an agreement with the student.
The National Defense University on Monday denied that it had done anything discriminatory, saying that the student was expelled because of his moral conduct.