Control
By the end of 2006, 19 confirmed cases of vertical HIV-1 transmission have been reported to the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control. In January, 2005, the agency started a national program focused on prevention of mother-to-child transmission, and five cases of vertical transmission were reported in 2005. By June, 2006, the screening rate had reached 97·4%, and 47 of 338 452 pregnant women (13·9 per 100 000) tested in Taiwan have been identified as having HIV-1 infections and have received antiretroviral therapy to prevent mother-to-child transmission. To increase the participation rate, there is discussion of changing the voluntary counselling and testing strategy from opt-in to opt-out.
Several positive responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Taiwan should be mentioned. In 1990 an AIDS Prevention and Control Law was passed to protect the rights of Taiwanese people with HIV/AIDS for treatment, education, and employment. Since 1992, 16 non-governmental organizations registered or established in Taiwan have provided shelter, care, counselling, anonymous testing, and AIDS education. One in particular, the People Living with HIV/AIDS Rights' Advocacy Association, has been addressing human rights issues related to HIV/AIDS since 1997. However, most such organizations have their headquarters and facilities in northern Taiwan, and two-thirds of the country's intravenous drug users live in central and southern parts. In addition, many social workers employed by non-governmental organizations are still unfamiliar with issues related to drug abuse and inexperienced in interacting with intravenous drug users. There is a clear and immediate need for counselling workshops for medical staff and social workers.
As the HIV-1 infection threat increases, there are many signs of persistent denial and resurgent discrimination in Taiwan. Several important issues need to be addressed: sentinel surveillance of female sex workers, social welfare institutions and housing for homeless people with HIV/AIDS, financial support for non-governmental organizations, training and re-education programs aimed at changing the attitudes of medical staff toward people with HIV/AIDS, and more funding for AIDS research, especially vaccine development.
Read more about this topic: HIV/AIDS In Taiwan
Famous quotes containing the word control:
“Only one thing is certain: if pot is legalized, it won’t be for our benefit but for the authorities’. To have it legalized will also be to lose control of it.”
—Germaine Greer (b. 1939)
“If someone does something we disapprove of, we regard him as bad if we believe we can deter him from persisting in his conduct, but we regard him as mad if we believe we cannot. In either case, the crucial issue is our control of the other: the more we lose control over him, and the more he assumes control over himself, the more, in case of conflict, we are likely to consider him mad rather than just bad.”
—Thomas Szasz (b. 1920)
“We human beings do have some genuine freedom of choice and therefore some effective control over our own destinies. I am not a determinist. But I also believe that the decisive choice is seldom the latest choice in the series. More often than not, it will turn out to be some choice made relatively far back in the past.”
—A.J. (Arnold Joseph)