She said the center has been working on a plan on how to assess and compensate for occupational exposure to HIV, ever since Premier Wen Jiabao suggested the country should add exposure to blood-borne viruses to the list of occupational diseases as soon as possible.
China had 1,043 cases of occupational exposure to HIV last year, although none resulted in an infection, according to the center.
“We haven’t found any infections through occupational exposure in the past few years,” said Wu Zunyou, director of the center. “Of course, the exposure does put huge mental pressure on medical workers, while the preventive medicines can make them feel very uncomfortable.”
A surgeon in Beijing, who did not want to be identified, said he would prefer that guidance on post-exposure response was posted in operating rooms for every surgeon to see, as well as specific standards for when preventive medicines cause serious side effects or fail to work.
First national day for road safety marked around China