That an HIV-positive patient had to conceal his condition by changing his medical records in order to receive an operation for lung cancer reveals the discrimination people with the virus face.

The 25-year-old patient was rejected by two hospitals before he changed his medical records, after which he was accepted by a third, where he received the operation. The patient said later that he did not want to cheat the doctors, but otherwise he wouldn't have got the treatment he needed.

After the patient's story came to his attention, Vice-Premier Li Keqiang immediately called the health minister requiring the rights of people with HIV be guaranteed and that doctors be protected from being infected.