Re: Confidentiality from the perspective of India

[Guest guest]

Dear Geoffrey,

The definition of confidentiality is the same

everywhere, but the issues differ. In this part of the

world having sex before getting married is considered

to be a sin by the society (though it does not

neseesarily stop youngsters) and in general people

relate AIDS with sex only, hence the reluctance.

Manish

E-mail: <mmathur_in@...>

[Guest guest]

From: " Vijay Rajkumar " <vijay@...>

I believe the issue here is informed choice, informed consent and informed

decision making. Every human being has a right to decide whom she or he

wants to disclose his or her HIV status and I believe there should be no

seperate definition for Indians.

Vijay

___________________________

Vijay,

Thanks for vindicating my position which was criticised because it was a

western definition and not applicable in Indian culture.

I am a pre & post test counsellor and I am often asked by clients who test

positive who else they should tell and I answer with another question Who

needs to know? You cannot untell someone news like this.

I am told that Indian families don't have the same privacy as western

families and that it is natural for neighbours to know everything about

those who they live in close proximity with.

In our case in Australia all testing is coded with the Provider Number of

the Doctor who requests the test.

It is a notifiable illness so the government gets told when a test is

positive and the doctor is contacted to provide an anonymous profile of his

client and the pin code is the closest that data comes to identifying the

client.

The interested, involved and affected community gets a quarterly update of

the figures on a State by State basis and dramatic variations either in a

particular age group or gender type or sexual orientation, and from those

updates education and prevention activities can be targeted and initiated

quickly whilst preserving the anonymity of the PLWA.

I am not yet convinced that this so called western model can't be replicated

to positive effect in India.

Geoff Heaviside

E-mail: <gheaviside@...>