7 brides-to-be from Vietnam HIV-positive
Seven grooms-to-be from Taiwan had to scrap their wedding
plans after finding out that their Vietnamese brides were
HIV-positive, according to local health authorities.
The seven women were found to be infected with the AIDS
virus during mass pre-wedding testing conducted by a hospital
in Ho Chih Minh City in Vietnam.
The hospital reported that most AIDS carriers found during
the screening were under the age of 23, had received minimal
education, and had engaged in premarital sex.
Under Taiwan law, foreign HIV carriers are prohibited from
entering the country.
The regulation is apparently intended to help stem the increase in AIDS cases in Taiwan.
According to information provided by the Center for Disease Control, some 600 new HIV infections are being
discovered each year in Taiwan.
And while AIDS is no longer considered a “foreigner’s disease,?health officials say local men marrying women
from Southeast Asian countries may be putting themselves at risk.
To date, 64 out of the 352 foreigners living in Taiwan who are known to have the disease are married to local
residents.
A full 61 of the carriers are women married to local men, and at least 18 of them are known to have given their
husbands the disease.
In one other case, a foreign man infected his local wife with AIDS, according to the Center for Disease Control.
Health authorities further report that 90 percent of the foreign brides found to be HIV positive come from
Southeast Asian countries such as Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, Myanmar and Vietnam.
At present, Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs requires that citizens planning to bring foreign spouses back to
the country must provide results from an AIDS test taken within the past three months.
However, critics have pointed out that the regulation may not be entirely effective since the virus can lie dormant
for up to six months.
Health officials warn that given the relatively high incidence of AIDS in Southeast Asian countries, anyone
marrying someone from that region should engage in safe sex for a six-month period in order to make sure that
they are not at risk of infection.
The China Post - June 02, 2002.
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