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September 21, 2007
HIV/AIDS Patients to Get Medical Benefits -Korea
The following information was downloaded from the mailing list of "Disability and Development" with a cooperation of the publisher, Mr. Soya Mori.
By Kim Tae-jong
Staff Reporter
Patients with HIV and AIDS are expected to be designated as ``disabled'' and will receive medical and welfare benefits from the government.
Under the current law, the government designates the mentally and physically challenged as disabled and categorizes them in various grades depending on their symptoms.
But the Seoul Metropolitan Government will propose a bill to extend the scope of the ``disabled'' to include patients with HIV and AIDS.
``If you get infected with the virus, you have to deal with as many difficulties as the disabled do,'' a city official said. ``It is difficult to get a job, the disease is very expensive to treat and you
become very isolated from society. You need help.''
To come up with a revision of the standing law, city authorities have been conducting research involving some 500 patients and medical experts since May.
The results will be delivered to the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the National Assembly in November, the official said.
If people infected with the virus are designated as disabled, they will receive financial support for their medical expenses and reductions on essential costs such as transportation fares and fees for using public facilities.
As of June of 2007, a total of 4,051 patients were diagnosed with HIV or AIDS nationwide and 1,565 of them, or 38 percent, live in Seoul alone. They are under the supervision of the government, which offers regular immunity check-ups and support for medical expenses.
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2007/09/113_10604.html
Posted by jicafriends at September 21, 2007 05:59 PM