USA / ROMANIA: Human Rights Watch says more must be done to protect Romania's HIV children from discrimination

Record ID: 402211

  • Title: USA / ROMANIA: Human Rights Watch says more must be done to protect Romania's HIV children from discrimination
  • Date: 14th August 2006
  • Summary: (CEEF) CONSTANTA, ROMANIA (FILE - 1998) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF HIV CHILDREN ON ROLLER BLADES VARIOUS OF CHILDREN EATING VARIOUS OF CHILDREN WALKING TO SCHOOL WITH UMBRELLAS VARIOUS OF CHILDREN PLAYING IN SCHOOL YARD
  • Embargoed: 29th August 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Health
  • Reuters ID: LVAF3ARQ688UHNLPUZJOSLID9V2U
  • Story Text: Thousands of HIV-positive children face discrimination in Romania, where vast, filthy orphanages were a breeding ground for AIDS before the 1989 fall of communism, a human rights group has said.
    A report by U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said Romania's failure to promote the integration of more than 7,200 sick children aged 15 to 19, the largest such group in any European state, has kept many from attending school, getting healthcare or jobs. The organisation says that with thousands of infected children about to turn 18 in the next couple of years, Romania needs to plan for their future.
    "One of the things that is important to remember is that Romania was one of the first countries to aggressively respond to kids that were infected with HIV and they brought out all kinds of access to drugs and protections for kids," said Human Rights Watch spokesman, Joseph Amor.
    "But that was fifteen years ago, and these kids are now adolescents; they're facing new challenges. They're being discriminated against at school, they're being discriminated against as they move to the workforce. And they need explicit information about their medical condition that they're not being told that they're infected, and what it means to be infected, and what they need to do to protect their own health and prevent transmission to other people," he added.
    Tens of thousands of children were abandoned in communist Romania following dictator Nicolae Ceausescu's ban on birth control as he dreamed of creating a worker society, modelled on the example of North Korea.
    AIDS spread in orphanages because of unsafe medical practices, badly screened blood, routine blood transfusions for underweight babies and antibiotics administered by injection.
    Fewer than 60 percent of children living with HIV attend school and those who do risk ostracism and abuse by teachers and expulsion if their status becomes known, the report said. Since 1990, Romania has attracted repeated criticism from pro-democracy groups over cases of breaching the rights of HIV-positive people, police violence and discrimination against homosexuals and ethnic minorities.
    Romanian society has been slow to accept rights for its minorities and ignorance about AIDS remains widespread.
    Human Rights Watch says authorities must remove legislative barriers that have led to widespread discrimination such as mandatory HIV testing as a condition for employment.
    "There is more than 7000 kids that were infected and they're facing very serious concerns. And the Romanian government needs to act to put in place social welfare protections and laws that will prevent discrimination against these kids," Amor said.
    "40 per cent of these kids aren't in school. And they're not in school because they've been kicked out of school because of their HIV status, because they've been subjected to stigma, the confidentiality of their medical status hasn't been protected. And these kids need to be able to access school so that they can get an education and that as they become adults, they can live productive lives. That's a basic step. Another step is in the workforce. They need to abolish the HIV testing requirements that prevent them from being able to get jobs. These are just very fundamental steps that don't cost money, that can immediately impact the lives of these kids," he added.
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