Hiv Testing

[chinadarling]

Hey, I live in China and hospitals must immediately report to the police if a forienger has any STD then you get the boot forever. Is thailand any better?

It would be nice to have somewhere to go to get a test if you need one. Anonymous of course, or at least not jailed for getting sick.

What is the law and actual practise in Thailand?

[Noel]

Hey, I live in China and hospitals must immediately report to the police if a forienger has any STD then you get the boot forever. Is thailand any better?

It would be nice to have somewhere to go to get a test if you need one. Anonymous of course, or at least not jailed for getting sick.

What is the law and actual practise in Thailand?

STD's and HIV status appear to be a matter between a doctor and patient. To my knowledge there is no system in place for results to be shared with anyone other than the patient.

Essentially, HIV status seems to be ignored by the Thai authorities.

By way of example, the medical report required to obtain a visa extension on the grounds of retirement does list certain conditions that you must not have, but HIV is not mentioned.

[Sheryl]

Thailand adheres to internationally accepted standrads and policies with regard to HIV testing: it must be voluntary, accompanied by pre and post test counseling, and it must be confidential. Not only is it not mandatory to report a person's result to anyone other than the patient themself, it is forbidden to do so without the patient's written consent.

No distinction is made in this regard based on nationality.

This is the case in most countries and there are well established international guidelines on this. China is an outlier on this and many other public health (and human rights) issues.

[jdinasia]

Note ... Confidential does NOT equal Anonymous ... and they do report to insurance sompanies etc ....

for Anonymous testing ... try the redcross here in BKK ... I listed the info earlier on this sub-forum

see this thread

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=69301

Edited June 11, 2006 by jdinasia

[Ijustwannateach]

Posters should also be aware that when performing major medical procedures (i.e., surgery), it's pretty much standard practice to do an HIV check. Whether or not this is discussed with you before the operation, it will be part of the paperwork and permissions that you sign for. I had a minor surgical procedure in Thailand at a "scrumdillyumptious" hospital (one tries to outdo the Thais in their predilection for superlatives to describe their better institutions) and was aware of this, though no one specifically informed me beforehand- had to specifically ask afterwards to see the results (their confidentiality arrangements did seem sound, with the caveats mentioned above).

Red Cross for anonymity.

"Steven"

[Sheryl]

Note ... Confidential does NOT equal Anonymous ... and they do report to insurance sompanies etc ....

for Anonymous testing ... try the redcross here in BKK ... I listed the info earlier on this sub-forum

see this thread

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=69301

I'm pretty sure they cannot report your HIV status to an insurance company (or anyone else) without your written consent. This is MoPH policy if not law.

However, if you have a physical exam for insurance purposes and either decline an HIV test (written consent being required to do one except in emergencies) or decline to allow the results to be shared with the company, the company may be told this (that you refused the test or refused to let the results be reported) from which they will draw their own conclusions.

True about the surgery although it varies with the procedure and the surgeon. In many cases the surgeon just requires that you get yourself tested and bring the result with you. I had to do that when I has LASIK (surgical correction of myopia). I was not, however, asked for it when I had hand surgery (carpal tunnel decompression) nor at my recent facelift. And I know it wasn't checked automatically because I had all my pre-op blood work done outside the hospital and brought the results in with me.