In a bold and good step a Chinese lawmaker has proposed to make a law that considers "the intentional spread of HIV/AIDS," as a crime.It would be included in the country's Criminal Law. This would better protect the general public from the deadly epidemic.
According to Li Yaping, a deputy to the Tenth National People's Congress (NPC), the Chinese legislature in its annual full session here, “The new crime will be applicable to those HIV carriers or AIDS patients who deliberately spread the virus and disease by means of biting, scratching and injecting others or through the channels like sexual intercourse, syringe sharing, blood transfusion and organ transplant.As put by Li the offenders would be sentenced to at least 10 years in prison, and up to life imprisonment and death sentence.
Li added, "The risk of being infected with HIV/AIDS is expanding rapidly from a few professional circles, like the doctors and nurses, to everyone in the society. Since the intentional spread of HIV/AIDS could lead to the death of the crime victims, the existing penalties for such offences are obviously too mild to have a deterring effect."
