Ministry Of Commerce Drafts Regulation To Ban HIV-Positive People From Bathhouses

HIV bathhouse ban

Has no one in China’s Ministry of Commerce taken elementary sex-ed? (Answer: in all seriousness, they probably have not.) A draft regulation is currently in the public domain seeking popular opinion (the best kind!) on whether those with HIV should be allowed in bathhouses. Because you can get HIV from bathhouses?

National Health Service, what say you?

You can’t catch HIV from:

  • kissing
  • being sneezed on by someone with HIV
  • sharing baths, towels or cutlery with someone with HIV
  • swimming in a pool that has been used by someone with HIV
  • sitting on a toilet seat that someone with HIV has previously sat on

Understandably, members of several advocacy groups have thrown their palms up in the air and asked, WTF? China Daily reports:

“We are concerned about the regulation,” said Guy Taylor, advocacy and information officer of the China office of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS.

“It’s important to highlight that HIV can only be transmitted in three ways: through sexual contact, through blood-borne transmission and through mother-to-child transmission. There is no risk of transmission of HIV through casual contact in bathhouses or similar facilities.

“Addressing HIV-related stigma and discrimination is a critical component of the response to HIV, and this is recognized by the Chinese government’s policies,” he said.

The Ministry of Commerce did not state the transmission rate of HIV in bathhouses, and not able to find any such instance online, we can only assume that your chances of contracting HIV through a randomly placed needle in the back of a taxi cab remains, to this day, higher than contracting it through sharing a bath. I don’t know. Maybe a lot of bloody anal sex happens in China’s bathhouses, and that’s what the Ministry of Commerce is really cracking down on. The Ministry of Commerce is weird.

Bathhouse ban bid makes waves (China Daily)

    3 Responses to “Ministry Of Commerce Drafts Regulation To Ban HIV-Positive People From Bathhouses”

    1. Deep Throat

      I have it on good authority that a lot of sexual contact happens in bath houses. Instead of this stupid idea, they should include free condoms with every entry ticket, or at the very least get on board with proper sex education. If you’re keen to check it out first hand, you head down to the big one by Chongwenmen. I’ve heard that’s where all the action is.

      Reply
    2. Chinese Netizen

      Banned because officials are the ones that frequent bath houses the most and it’s they who don’t want to be near HIV+ people.

      Reply

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