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Even more terrible than stigma: Those who prey on HIV+ people
[Xin Jing Bao, 2003.12.1]
Last night at the “AIDS discussion meeting” hosted by the Beijing
University Red Cross, Dr. Gao Yaojie, an AIDS activist and professor from
the Henan Academy of Chinese Medicine, pointed out that in addition to
the original poverty, discrimination and other pressures, people with HIV
and AIDS are facing another pressure: there are continuing cases of unscrupulous
doctors and quacks frequently use advertisements, the internet, and mailings
to cheat people with HIV and their families [out of money], and this type
of deception is worse even than the stigma [associated with HIV/AIDS].
Gao Yaojie said that a few self-proclaimed “AIDS treatment experts
and professors” , charlatans, itinerant doctors, and tricksters went everywhere
writing letters, hanging up advertisements, getting online, and using all
means to find HIV/AIDS patients. These so-called “experts” have a low level
of education: she has met workers, self-declared ‘magic healers’ who can
treat HIV/AIDS with 100% effectiveness. But upon investigation, she discovered
that they have no medical ability whatsoever.
“Some patients are desperately searching for treatment, and as
a result are fleeced [by the tricksters] and left with nothing to live
on. It’s even harder to bear than the stigma,” Gao Yaojie said. One person
with HIV who trusted these ‘tricksters’ left more than 10,000 yuan in debt
and two children when (s)he left this world. “This sort of victim is not
an isolated incident,” she said, “It has already become a serious social
problem.”
诈骗艾滋病人比歧视更可怕
http://www.thebeijingnews.com/2003-12-1/200312142526.htm
来源：新京报 www.thebeijingnews.com 日期：2003年12月1日4:25 转载请注明出处
本报讯 (记者史梅）昨晚在北大红十字会举行的“艾滋病主题谈话会”上，河南中医学院教授、积极的抗艾活动者高耀洁指出，在艾滋病感染者和病人身上，除了原有的贫困、歧视等构成的重压以外，一些医骗子经常利用广告、网络、信件欺骗艾滋病人及家属的事件近年来不断发生，这类诈骗比歧视更可怕。
高耀洁说，一些自称“专治艾滋病的专家、教授”的庸医、游医、医骗子到处写信、登广告、上网，用多种手段查找艾滋病人。这些所谓的“专家”文化程度很低，她曾经遇到一位工人，自称有医治艾滋病的“神药”，有效率100％，并鼓吹名人为他题字。但经过谈话，就发现此人根本是一个医学的“门外汉”。
“有些病人病急乱投医，结果被弄得一贫如洗，生活无着，比歧视更难熬”，高耀洁说。一位艾滋病人由于相信“神医”，最后留下一万多元的债务和两个幼子离开了人世。“这样的受害者绝非一人一户，已经成为严重的社会问题。”
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