Hepatitis B virus (HBV) became the bane of An Xin's
existence.
The 32-year-old woman, who is working in Nanjing, east China's
Jiangsu
Province, ended her nine-year-old marriage this March.
"My biggest regret was that I did not have my own baby," she
said. "He (her ex-husband) wanted a baby, but not my baby."
As an HBV carrier, An had to choose abortion.
"He said he did not want an unhealthy child," she said, "even
though modern medicine can work well to block the spread from
mother to baby."
Her marriage was finally ruined after three abortions.
An Xin is not the woman's real name, but that of the heroine of
the popular novel Jade Kwan-yin, which has been adapted for TV and
won great applause. In the novel, the heroine is an anti-drug
policewoman who lost her child, husband, and finally left her lover
and devoted herself to her career.
"I love the character because she is so strong-willed," An said.
"Thus, I adopted her name as my nickname."
An recalled that she was found to be a carrier at the age of 12,
yet no one else from her family has been found to be infected.
"Maybe I got the virus through an injection," she said.
This is a view shared by some HBV carriers because in the past,
Chinese hospitals did not use disposable syringes. Although nurses
changed the needles, a syringe would usually be used for several
patients, which might have led to the spread of the
virus.?
Nowadays, HBV has become a big obstacle to the education, work
and even marriages of carriers.
A person is usually considered as an HBV carrier if three out of
five important indexes in a special hepatitis B examination are
positive.
People with the HBV virus are considered to be carriers but not
patients as long as their liver function is OK. Statistics show
that China has a total of 130 million HBV carriers today.
In China, HBV carriers are divided into two groups called da
san yang (three big positive indexes) and xiao san
yang (three small positive indexes) respectively. Doctors
consider the former to be active sufferers of the HBV virus, with a
large number of viruses being replicated, while the latter group
carry the virus in a relatively steady state.
Fortunately the disease caused a little trouble in her education
and work. Graduating from university in 1993, she found employment
with an institute in Nanjing.
"We were not asked to go to hospital for a physical examination
that year," she said.
However, many companies have begun asking job-hunters to take
physical checks-ups, including liver function and important
hepatitis B indexes. In particular the recruitment of public
servants has become sensitive to HBV status in many places.
Service unwanted
In almost every province, people with da san yang are rejected
for public service, while different provinces have different
regulations on recruiting people with xiao san yang. South China's
Guangdong Province, for instance, has stipulated that HBV carriers
with xiao san yang are qualified to take part in the public service
examinations.
In April 2003, a senior university student named Zhou Yichao in
east China's Zhejiang Province stabbed two officials, resulting in
one death, after he discovered that he was an HBV carrier with xiao
san yang, and was excluded from public service even after passing
all examinations and interviews.
The case ignited a heated discussion on how to protect the
rights of HBV carriers, arousing considerable media interest. In
September, a new round of discussion was sparked when the
22-year-old killer was sentenced to death in the first instance.
Many reports mentioned the way the furious Zhou tore open the
judgment after receiving it from the court.
In Shanghai, HBV carriers have little opportunity to find
employment in governmental departments.
"Those with da san yang are absolutely disqualified,"
said an official from the Public Servant Administration Department
of the Shanghai Personnel Bureau.
"For those with xiao san yang, the decision depends on
the different bureaux, which may have different requirements
concerning their officials. Also, each bureau has its own criterion
for physical examination."
The official said that each bureau has the right to decide
whether to recruit people with xiao san yang.
Currently, many companies and enterprise also refuse to employ
HBV carriers. They ask those job-hunters who pass interviews to
have a medical examination before signing a contract. Some
enterprises may even fire their employees if they find they are HBV
carriers.
"I knew one person who was refused employment with a large
company when he was found to be an HBV carrier," said David Mao,
who used to be an HR worker, a post which is in charge of
recruiting employees.
"In fact, a company wants to reduce its risks in this way," he
added.
Miserable victims
However, to most HBV carriers, these attitudes amount to a kind
of discrimination against them.
"It is also a violation of privacy," said one HBV carrier who
asked to be identified as Hu. "An HBV carrier should have his or
her own right to live, study and work."
The HBV was detected in Hu's body when he was in high school,
although none of his other family members tested positive for the
virus.
Graduating from university in 1997, He is now working in a
joint-venture. His HBV has remained a secret from his
colleagues.
Because of the virus, Hu lost his girlfriend, who was afraid of
hepatitis B.
"Also, I never touch my sister's child, and I do not have dinner
with my family," he said.
Beyond his family members, only a few bosom friends knew Hu was
an HBV carrier.
"If I job hop and need to have a medical examination, I will ask
a friend to lend blood in my place," he said.
According to Hu, such methods have become popular with HBV
carriers.
"HBV carriers need work, so they have to cheat doctors and
employers," he said. "My sister once covered for her friend by
lending blood to fool a liver examination."
(Shanghai Star November 13, 2003)