Japanese Cabinet OKs Bill Barring Carriers of AIDS
TOKYO — The Japanese Cabinet today approved a bill allowing immigration authorities to bar foreigners suspected of carrying the AIDS virus in an effort to halt the spread of the deadly disease in the island nation.
The legislation, Japan’s first on AIDS, also bans “acts of spreading†the disease and requires doctors to report all AIDS patients and carriers of the virus to local governments. But violations are not punishable under the proposed law.
Only 36 cases of acquired immune deficiency syndrome have been confirmed in Japan. The bill was drafted after the death of Japan’s first female AIDS victim in January heightened public anxiety over the disease.
After weeks of discussion about possible civil liberty infringements contained in the proposed law, the Cabinet approved it. The bill will be submitted to Parliament for approval before taking effect.
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