Quebec to Require Physicians, Labs to Report Positive HIV Test Results
Officials at Quebec's Department of Health and Social Services announced yesterday that doctors and HIV testing centers will be required to disclose HIV-positive test results to provincial health officials beginning April 18, Reuters reports. Doctors and lab workers would be required to disclose only the person's gender, age and HIV risk factors with the test results, health department officials said, adding that it "will be totally impossible to identify the people affected." Officials said that the reporting requirements are an effort "to better follow the evolution of HIV infections and give better care to patients." Health department officials also recently ruled that testing facilities, in addition to physicians, are required to report positive hepatitis C test results. British Columbia is now the only Canadian province that does not require that positive HIV test results be reported to health officials (Reuters, 4/8).
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