HIV-positive school bus driver sexually assaulted 9 women and infected 5 others. Minister of Health and Welfare: Will not adjust compulsory testing regulations for the time being

In central China, a school bus driver surnamed Li knew he was infected with HIV but still sexually assaulted nine women, causing five of them to become infected. This attracted attention from the outside world, and some people believed that the mandatory testing regulations for HIV-infected people should be adjusted. In this regard, Minister of Health and Welfare Shi Chongliang emphasized that if the compulsory testing regulations are too strict, patients may have reservations during epidemic investigation. Therefore, compulsory testing of HIV contacts is still limited to three types of situations, and will not be adjusted for the time being unless there is a very serious need.

An exaggerated incident of a school bus driver sexually assaulting nine women broke out in central China, including many female students. Six of the nine were underage. The earliest victimization date can be traced back to July 2022. The youngest victim was only 15 years old. And because the school bus driver surnamed Li is a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patient, five of the victims have been diagnosed with HIV.

After the incident broke out, it shocked all walks of life, and the outside world questioned that the driver surnamed Li had been listed as a contact of a confirmed HIV case by the health unit, but was not subject to compulsory testing. As a result, the driver surnamed Li knew that he was infected with HIV, but still deliberately spread it around, resulting in the victimization of many women.

According to the "Ordinance on the Prevention and Control of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection and the Protection of Rights and Interests of Infected Persons (AIDS Ordinance)", only in three situations: "emergency blood transfusion without prior testing", "manufacture of blood preparations" and "performing organ, tissue, body fluid or cell transplantation", HIV testing can be directly carried out without the consent of the person concerned. Otherwise, even if the contact is notified and fails to be screened, a fine of only NT$30,000 to NT$150,000 will be imposed.

Shi Chongliang said that during the legislative process of the AIDS Ordinance, there was a discussion on whether to use public power to conduct compulsory testing. In the end, it was considered that the compulsory screening of contacts was too strict, which may cause patients to conceal during the epidemic investigation, thus making the epidemic investigation difficult. Therefore, it was finally limited to three situations where the public welfare outweighs the private interests, and forced testing without consent was finally considered.

Regarding public discussions on whether to adjust relevant norms or review relevant compulsory inspection regulations, Shi Chongliang said that HIV prevention and control in Taiwan has been successful in recent years. Unless there is a "very large need" or other new important considerations, the current compulsory inspection norms will be maintained and no new compulsory inspection requirements will be added for the time being. In addition, the local health bureau has also set up a special investigation team to investigate this incident and has completed the investigation.