MEDICAL students ponder the question: Are two condoms better than
one?
That question and others were recently posed to students at the
Medical School of Shanghai Jiao Tong University in an effort to
better educate health professionals who have misconceptions on
HIV-AIDs, and harbor prejudice.
(The answer is no because friction between the two condoms could
cause a break.)
The lecture and question session was one of the several events on
November26 organized by two student clubs at the university, the
Association of Peer Education for AIDS and the Health Industry
Association.
“I feel sad to learn that some HIV carriers are still facing
discrimination at hospitals and some medical staff are still
reluctant to attend AIDS patients ,”said Liao Yue, a senior medical
student in dentistry and president of the peer education
association.
“So I figured that if we, the future doctors, could view AIDS
rationally and correctly, there will be less discrimination and
more care for AIDS patients in the near future.”
The Association of Peer Education for AIDS was founded in 1998
and has more than 50 student members. It works in middle schools,
high schools and residential communities in Shanghai. Last year
they talked about AIDS prevention at Shanghai Wu‘a(chǎn)i High School,
Shanghai Qinghua Middle School and Luoshan Residential Community.
This year the focus is medical students. The slogan is
“Antidiscrimination, anti-ignorance.”
On November 26, many young would be doctors had their photos
taken while they held signs reading, “I will treat AIDS patients
equally with-out discrimination.”
The medical students also heard from Professor Huang Yanping from
Renji Hospital and Bu Jiaqing from Shanghai Jing’an District Youth
HIV-AIDS Prevention Center (also known as Shanghai Qing‘a(chǎn)i), a NGO
working among gay groups.
Professor Huang discussed how medical staff could better protect
themselves against HIV, while showing respect to patients and
giving proper treatment. Bu Jiaqing discussed the negative effects
of discrimination on AIDS patients.
According to a recent study by Beijing Ditan Hospital, it is
hospitals where AIDS patients suffer the most discrimination.
Lacking proper awareness and knowledge, many medical staff
discriminate against AIDS patients or refuse to treat them.
Safe sex is a major focus of volunteer work since the risk of HIV
infection among college students has caused concern in recent
years.
According to the Ministry of Health,9,514 young people aged from
15 to 24were reported to be HIV-infected in the first 10 months of
2012, an increase of12.8 percent over 2011.
