A man in Binh Thuan Province has requested the provincial health sector to issue a public apology and provide compensation after a mistaken diagnosis for HIV/AIDS 19 years ago. During the time, he has had to live with discriminations.

Khanh and his wife

Living with discrimination for 19 years

In 1997, medical workers of Binh Thuan Province's HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Centre came to Tran Ngoc Khanh's house to take a blood sample for as he had a history of drug addiction.

Then the test after that showed a positive result, which caused huge mental anguish for him and his family. He had to eat and sleep separately to ensure safety for his wife and children.

Many people tried to keep away from him and then refused to buy newspapers and lottery tickets from his stall, causing it to be closed. This added more pressures to his family's financial situation.

His wife and children were also discriminated by other people. His children were made to cry when being teased.

He recalled being shunned at wedding party.

Having faced continual discrimination he relapsed into the drug addiction for three years, leaving the burden of raising the family on his wife.

Escaping a death penalty

In May this year, Khanh decided to retake the HIV/AIDS test again because he didn’t feel any physical symptoms over the 19-year period. Surprisingly that the three tests conducted in HCM City's hospitals had the same negative result.

He recently visited Binh Thuan Province's HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Centre to ask about papers related to his test announced 19 years old. However, a centre representative said to him that he could not find the document and then later told that the papers had been handed over to the provincial Department of Preventive Medicines.

The HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control has removed his name from the list of local HIV/AIDS carriers.

“I want an apology and compensation from the local health sector for pains I experienced for 19 years, if not, I will file a lawsuit for this," he noted.

Speaking to DTiNews, Nguyen Thi Vy Uyen, Deputy Director of the HCM City Department of Preventive Medicines, in 1997, said the technologies for HIV tests were not as modern as now were this may lead to a small probability of inaccurate tests.

Uyen said that Binh Thuan Province's health sector should re-consider the testing process of Thanh's case. If it was wrong, the sector should apologise and compensate Thanh in line with law.

Binh Thuan's health sector also needs to widely inform local people to vindicate Thanh.

Dtinews