Privacy becomes core healthcare issue

'Demand for IDs may deter people in danger'

Editor's note: Tang Tang, 40, runs Younuo teahouse and is the head of Tang Seng, a civil organization that is working to control HIV and AIDS in the city of Shanghai.

We offer free HIV tests for people (mostly homosexual men) at the teahouse about once every three months. However, we noticed a real drop-off in the number who showed up at the last event.

We only got about 50, but in the past we'd usually get 70 to 80 each time.

Many people in the gay community have already heard the news coming from the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region about the real-name policy. They are worried that Shanghai will bring in a similar policy, which will mean they have to hand over their personal information.

I called up those who refused to come to the last event. I stressed to them that we don't demand to see ID cards before we do the screening. But there are still hesitant.

Instead of convincing people to participate and improving the control of the virus, I think adopting a real-name policy for voluntary HIV testing will only succeed in pushing more people away.

Tang Tang was talking to Wang Hongyi.

Wang Hongyi