A provincial regulation in Henan that requires incoming college students to undergo, on a voluntary basis, an HIV test has sparked online debate and raised concerns on privacy and possible discrimination, China Daily reported.

The Henan province regulation, which aims to prevent HIV on campus, requires HIV testing to be included in the health check requirements for students entering college as freshmen.  

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The regulation, issued by the health and education department of Henan province, however, was clear that the test will only be conducted on students who are willing to be tested.

"If the student wants to be tested (for HIV), the center will provide it for free," said Henan Center for Disease Control and Prevention Deputy Director Wang Zhe.

Henan authorities are working doubly hard to combat the spread of HIV in the province, one of the most populous in China. As of the last count, the province has 50,000 HIV/AIDS patients and the number of new cases is growing by more than 4,000 every year, the Henan health department said.

The regulation received mixed reactions from netizens, the patients themselves, and rights groups.

One HIV-positive patient, whose daughter is a freshman in college, said he does not accept the new medical requirements and hoped that authorities will not discriminate his daughter. He does not want his daughter to undergo such test.

Another HIV-positive patient, a mother, said the medical regulation will only put people with HIV under immediate metal pressure.

Online netizens have also expressed their opposition to the regulation, saying the health authorities of Henan should focus on information dissemination and education campaign instead of including the HIV test in the medical requirements for incoming college students.

But Wu Zunyou, head of the National Center for AIDS and STD Control and Prevention, welcomes the new Henan policy as he stressed that the increase in routine tests could reduce the discrimination of HIV/AIDS patients.

He said a test will also make the patient aware of his / her condition considering that almost 50 percent of HIV / AIDS patients in the country are unaware that they have the disease until they are in the advanced stages of the illness. Wu said early detection could help prolong the life of an HIV patient.

TagsChina HIV, China AIDS, HIV-AIDS China Cases, HIV College Test