GayNZ.com reports:
“Blasé” health care workers are too often divulging the confidential HIV status of their patients and broader data sharing within the medical fraternity is also leading to unwanted HIV status disclosures, according to HIV positive people.
As a result, the Privacy Commissioner is urging health care workers to reflect on the way they handle personal health information.
Half of New Zealanders living with the virus report that their HIV status has been disclosed to someone else, often a friend, without their permission. One in five unwanted disclosures resulting in negative consequences were made by professional health care workers. The finding is contained in HIV Futures NZ2, a comprehensive survey of the lives of people living with HIV and AIDS undertaken by Melbourne’s La Trobe University, the NZ AIDS Foundation and NZ HIV Positive people’s organisations.
Full story – GayNZ.com