Today, I unexpectedly came across this really interesting article.
It’s pretty long, but definitely worth reading if you have the time. This is
the link: http://www.buzzfeed.com/kathleenmclaughlin/the-aids-granny-in-exile?bffb
This article is about Chinese gynecologist Gao Yaojie,
nicknamed the “AIDS granny.” During the 90s, there was an AIDS epidemic in
rural China. The government assured the public that AIDS was spread only
through drug usage and promiscuous sex. Dr. Yaojie had one patient in
particular that allowed her to find the true cause of the epidemic. The woman
was neither a prostitute nor a drug user, so by the government’s standards,
there was no reason for her to have AIDS. However, Dr. Yaojie discovered the
woman did have a blood transfusion at one time. Her husband and child both
tested negative for AIDS, and Dr. Yaojie determined the cause of her illness to
have come from the blood transfusion. Dr. Yaojie then realized that the
government blood banks were using contaminated blood, due to unsafe practices
(reusing needles, bags, etc. on multiple people). She discovered that the
government was aware of the fact that
the AIDS epidemic had been caused because of the contaminated blood they were
distributing, yet they would not admit it. Dr. Yaojie gave money to and helped
AIDS victims in any way she possibly could, and attempted to expose the truth
behind the epidemic. The government attempted to silence her though constant harassment
(forcing her to do her job by night) and also by placing her on house arrest,
despite the fact she had not committed a crime. She escaped China and came to
the US, now living in solitude. Due to all that she has experienced, she
suffers from extreme paranoia, believing that the Chinese government may still
be watching her. That has not stopped her from advocating for her cause,
though, as she is currently working on her 27th book, the 9th
in a series about the AIDS epidemic of China.
Again, this article was really interesting, and has a lot
more information than I was able to include here. Definitely look at it if you
get the chance!
This is awesome! It's great because it's not something that's blatantly about feminism, like we talked about in class, but it's about a woman empowering herself to make a difference! That's feminism at its best!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great story. I really admire her for standing up for what she believed in and helping others, despite the reparations she faced. It is absolutely wrong for the government to hide the truth about the AIDS epidemic and for them to wrongly convict her of a crime. They are supposed to be the ones enforcing justice so that's scary... It is really sad that she is living in paranoia, but I'm so glad she is continuing to fight for the cause.
ReplyDeletewow this is amazing, i can't believe that I have never heard of her before.
ReplyDeleteThat takes an amazing woman. The ramifications of contaminated blood donations are enormous and it's a great thing in our country that we do have blood testing centers and regulations because so many people don't know they're infected. She's definitely a very strong and passionate woman!
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