The Wuhu City government's determination to keep the first case in China involving the rights of a hepatitis B virus (HBV) carrier in court continues with its appeal to an upper court that it did not discriminate against the man in denying him a job.

The Personnel Affairs Bureau of Wuhu in east China's Anhui Province, which lost the first round of an April 2 lawsuit when a court ruled it did not follow provincial standards when it said a man with HBV could not have a civil servant's job, made the appeal on the last day of a 15-day period.

The bureau said in the appeal that it couldn't accept the ruling that it had discriminated against Zhang Xianzhu, insisting that its administrative behaviors towards Zhang didn't violate any rules.

Zhang sued the bureau in November 2003 after he was rejected for a public servant's job in Wuhu. The bureau denied Zhang the job after it saw a health report from a local hospital which said Zhang was not qualified for public service.

HBV carriers can be separated into several kinds based on the specific virus and its potential spread. Zhang does not belong to the seven groups mentioned in Anhui's provincial health standards as not qualified for public service.

Therefore, the People's Court of Xinwu District of Wuhu said the Wuhu personnel affairs bureau could not deny Zhang's application based on the report and should have obeyed provincial standards.

The court backed Zhang's discrimination claim, yet inexplicably did not support his request to order the government to find him a job.

Zhang decided not to appeal the court's decision since he thought his goal of publicizing the plight of HBV carriers had already been reached. His lawsuit has aroused attention of the government and society, and among millions of HBV carriers in the country.

(China Daily April 19, 2004)