HIV-positive man who donated blood during pandemic charged with lying about sexual history

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Singapore – A 37-year-old man was charged for supplying false information when he went to donate blood. He indicated he had never had sex with another man, yet his blood sample came back HIV-positive.

The man, who cannot be named due to a gag order to protect his identity, came to court on Wednesday (Mar 3), intending to plead guilty to supplying false information under the Infectious Diseases Act.

The court heard that the man had gone to Bloodbank@HSA on May 3 last year to donate blood, reported channelnewsasia.com. Prior to the donation, he had to fill out a Donor Health Assessment Questionnaire, a legal document that needed to signed and acknowledged.

The man answered “no” to the question, “In your entire lifetime: Male Donors: Have you had sex with another man?” The court heard that the accused had overlooked the first page and the bit which defined “sex” as various penetrative acts, including oral sex. The first page also did not require signatures.

After a doctor checked his answers, the man confirmed they were truthful. However, his blood was later tested, and it came back HIV-positive. When the doctor explained that oral sex was considered as sex, the man admitted he had unprotected oral sex with a man in 2017 while on a bus in India.

According to the report, the judge rejected the accused’s plea of guilt because the man did not know at that time that oral sex was considered sex. The man did not knowingly provide a false statement.

The judge directed the case to a pre-trial conference next week, at the earliest date possible. For the offence, the prosecution is requesting at least three months’ jail and a fine of S$10,000, although it noted that the man admitted to the wrongdoing when the doctor brought it up.

It was reported that the man, who is unrepresented, brought luggage with him when he appeared in court as he was ready to go jail.

The man told the judge that he can no longer work in Singapore and lost his job eight months ago. He had spent his savings and only had S$250 left for rent and food.

Now, he is an HIV patient and with no means for treatment as it is not subsidised for foreigners. “Once I came to know about this, I was so depressed (over) the severity of the disease,” said the man. He added he was the sole breadwinner for six dependants in his home country.

“I didn’t want to hurt anyone or release the spread of this disease or anything,” he said. “I wanted to, in fact, help the country during the pandemic, during the crisis. When I went, it was during Covid time, and the blood supply was very (little).”

The man is scheduled to return to court on March 12 for a pre-trial conference.

For supplying false information relating to a blood donation, the sentence could be up to two years’ jail, up to S$20,000 fine, or both./TISG

艾滋病毒阳性男子在大流行期间献血，被指控撒谎有关性史

新加坡–一名37岁的男子被控在提供血液时提供虚假信息而被指控。他表示自己从未与另一个男人发生过性关系，但他的血液样本又带回了HIV阳性。

该名男子因堵截令而无法保护自己的身份而无法透露姓名，他于3月3日星期三出庭，打算对根据《传染病法》提供虚假信息表示认罪。

据channelnewsasia.com报道，法院获悉，该男子于去年5月3日去Bloodbank @ HSA献血。在捐赠之前，他必须填写《捐赠者健康评估问卷》，这是一份需要签署和确认的法律文件。

该男子对以下问题的回答为“否”：“您一生中的男性捐助者：您是否与另一个男人发生性关系？” 法院获悉，被告人忽略了首页和小标题，后者将“性”定义为包括口交在内的各种渗透性行为。第一页也不需要签名。

在医生检查了他的答案之后，该人证实他们是真实的。但是，他的血液后来接受了测试，并恢复为HIV阳性。当医生解释说口交被视为性行为时，该男子承认他在2017年在印度乘坐公共汽车时与一名男子进行了无保护的口交。

根据该报告，法官驳回了被告的有罪诉求，因为该名男子当时不知道口交被视为性交。该男子没有故意提供虚假陈述。

法官将案件尽快下周送交预审会议。对于该罪行，控方要求判处至少三个月的监禁和10,000新元的罚款，尽管它指出，该男子在医生提起诉讼时承认犯有不法行为。

据报道，这名无人认领的人在他准备入狱时出庭时带了行李。

该男子告诉法官，他不能再在新加坡工作，八个月前失去了工作。他花光了积蓄，只剩下250新元用于房租和伙食费。