Inter Press Service - November 19, 1999
Nguyen Nam Phuong

The list, announced Oct 25 by the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) -- a body included within the government's National Aids Committee (NAC) -- left HIV/AIDS experts aghast.

It included plastic surgeons, dentists and health workers, acupuncturists, tattooists, hairdressers, kindergarten teachers and those working in beauty salons, restaurants and hotels.

Although MoLISA made no mention of implementing obligatory HIV tests for jobs outside medical professions, individuals would be asked to leave their posts on being found HIV positive, the ministry circular stated.

One MoLISA official was quoted as saying: "These rules mainly apply to those who have already been found with HIV. They should not be employed in jobs that might affect the community."

Other officials were quick to stress that the circular was not designed to stigmatise HIV/AIDS sufferers. But critics of the policy say that is exactly what will happen and that ill-advised approaches to the pandemic only spreads misconceptions about it.

"The circular... does not mean we adopt a discriminatory attitude towards HIV carriers," a representative from the National Committee for HIV/AIDS Prevention, who chose not to be named, told IPS.

"If some workers in those fields are found to be HIV positive, their health records will be kept strictly confidential and their employers will arrange other jobs for them to do," he added.

Pham Toan, an official from MoLISA, was less concerned about the potential impact for people living with HIV, and says the new policy seeks to benefit the greater number of people.

"There are just a small number of HIV-infected people who may develop bad feelings. But our ultimate aim here is to keep the community safe," he said. International health organisations say otherwise.

"HIV professionals know that there are no scientific studies anywhere in the world to prove that people who work in any of the listed occupations, or any occupation, transmit the virus," said Jamie Uhrig, a Ho Chi Minh City-based HIV consultant.

Dr Laurent Zessler, country programme advisor for the Joint UN Programme on AIDS in Vietnam, says that a letter, which would be signed by a number of international HIV specialists, was in the process of being drafted by UN agencies to the Vietnamese government on the matter.

He stressed that UNAIDS advocated a "non-discriminatory and scientifically correct" approach to HIV/AIDS.

Other experts were more vociferous in condemning the circular. "It violates scientific evidence. It violates human rights. It is scientific nonsense," said one non-governmental organisation worker who did not wish to be named.

"It is ridiculous," said another Hanoi-based expert on HIV/AIDS. "Apart from being a violation of human rights, it seems to be unworkable."

Ms Tram, head of the legal department under the Ministry of Health, confirmed that the onus would be on employers to both carry out health checks on employees and secure alternative employment for anyone who tests positive.

Observers doubt however to what extent an employer would be willing, or even able, to find another job for a person living with HIV, particularly as that job would have to be in a completely different line of work.

The effectiveness of the decision could also be undermined by the fact that health certificates in Vietnam can be bought illegally or falsified -- something the Health Ministry is well aware of.

"People can buy health records which include incorrect information. This is really a problem for us," admitted Pham Toan, adding anyone found with such a document would be sacked.

Tram confirmed that "if someone knowingly hides their HIV record, they will lose benefits after being sacked and even receive punishment under the current laws".

Nevertheless, critics believe that, while people with HIV could potentially sidestep the measure, the message given out by the circular, is one of exclusion.

"If the circular is enforced, it will lead to more discrimination against people with HIV," says Uhrig.

Another foreign HIV expert says the damage has already been done. "Even if the government reverses the decision, it has planted seeds of doubt (for example) in the minds of parents who send their children to kindergarten," she explains.

What's more, she points out, the restrictions merely compound already daunting prevention efforts against HIV/AIDS. "Whereas before only certain types of people needed to worry [about contracting the virus] now barbers are going to be wary."

Other specialists added that by denying HIV carriers their livelihoods and fostering suspicion, the decision could even encourage the spread of the virus. People could become more reluctant to test themselves for HIV and more inclined to hide their condition if they tested positive.

Yet the decision, which health experts claim has been in the works for the last three years, seems to run contrary to recent statements from the multi-ministerial NAC itself.

Dr Chung A, NAC vice chairman, offered a much more accommodating approach to people with HIV in 'Nahn Dan' newspaper in September. "Many people are not aware enough about HIV/AIDS and are too afraid of the disease. This leads them to believe that HIV sufferers are bad and should be ignored," he said.

In June, there was a sigh of relief as the NAC debunked a rumour that compulsory HIV testing for all employees at state- owned enterprises would go ahead. However, the recent job ban could be a paranoid response to the spread of the disease in Vietnam.

On Nov 5, the NAC announced that 16,493 people with HIV had been detected, of whom 2,907 had developed AIDS and 1,512 had died since the first person with HIV/AIDS was diagnosed in 1990.

Over the past three years, an average of three AIDS-related deaths have been recorded each day and 10 new HIV carriers identified, mostly among prostitutes and drug users.

The Health Ministry says the number of people with HIV in Vietnam is projected to exceed 129,000 by end-1999.

While a United Nations estimate in March put the figure at 180,000 by 2000, others believe that Vietnam has not reached a 'take-off point' for a generalised epidemic and thus the figure could be lower than both estimates. (END/IPS/ap-he-hd/nnp/js/99)
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