Military to reinforce protection of privacy for HIV patients

Military to reinforce protection of privacy for HIV patients
(ATTN: ADDS time element in lead; CORRECTS number of S. Korean forces in last para)
By Sam Kim
SEOUL, May 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's military conscription agency said Friday
it plans to step up measures to protect the privacy of men diagnosed as
ineligible to serve because they carry HIV/AIDS.

Over 110 people have been exempted from the country's mandatory armed service
since 2005 because they carry the disease, according to the Military Manpower
Administration (MMA).
Conscripts must currently undergo a medical examination at an open MMA-run clinic
alongside others before they are ruled ineligible. Kim Duk-ki, an MMA official,
said his organization has submitted a revision to the related law allowing
patients to bypass the process by turning in state medical documents proving
their case.
"It is a measure aimed at protecting their human rights and providing them with
more convenience," Kim said in a briefing. He said he expected the revision to be
approved by the National Assembly "within this year."
The government reported recently that over 6,100 South Koreans have been infected
with HIV, the disease that causes AIDS. It is contracted mainly through sexual
contact and blood transfusions.
Over 90 percent of those reported to be infected last year were male, while those
between the ages of 20 to 40 accounted for about 73 percent.
South Korea operates a 655,000-strong military, one of the largest in the region,
as it remains technically at war with North Korea after the 1950-53 Korean War
ended in a truce rather than a peace treaty.
samkim@yna.co.kr
(END)