Anonymous sti testing in BC

[cannmann11]

Is there a place that does anonymous testing in BC? I've heard that a positive result is required to be reported and all partners must be informed and notified by the health department with follow-ups from a nurse.

I don't show symptoms, but would feel at ease if I could get tested regularly without having the fear that my name is in some database. My greatest fear is that if I ever do have a positive result, I would rather discuss it with my SO privatley. I have a friend who works in the fraser health dept and their job is to notify people of the above and do the follow-ups. If my name was one of those, everyone I and my SO know would find out.

I would rather keep it all private, so I never go get any testing done, despite the fact that I've read that Chlamydia and other such infections often have no symptoms.

Should I go to the States for testing?

 

[Health Nurse]

Is there a place that does anonymous testing in BC? I've heard that a positive result is required to be reported and all partners must be informed and notified by the health department with follow-ups from a nurse.

I don't show symptoms, but would feel at ease if I could get tested regularly without having the fear that my name is in some database. My greatest fear is that if I ever do have a positive result, I would rather discuss it with my SO privatley. I have a friend who works in the fraser health dept and their job is to notify people of the above and do the follow-ups. If my name was one of those, everyone I and my SO know would find out.

I would rather keep it all private, so I never go get any testing done, despite the fact that I've read that Chlamydia and other such infections often have no symptoms.

Should I go to the States for testing?

Hi cannmann11

Positive results from things like chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis and HIV are followed up by a public health nurse.

What this means is that they get in touch with you to make sure everything is ok (do you need treatment) and to see if you need any help with getting in touch with any partners.

We understand that this is a very sensitive topic and we would work with you to see what works best for you. We still have to respect your confidentiality (privacy).

If you were tested at a doctors office, your doctor must respect your privacy and if the doctor tells public health (we send them a form) that everything was taken care of, public health would have no need to contact you.

All the above is to ensure peoples confidentiality (privacy). We are hoping that this encourages people to get tested.

With your situation cannmann1 I can understand because of your social situation that you feel uncomfortable testing under your real name.

What I would suggest is come to one of our clinics in Vancouver. As it is in a different health authority it will not be reported to Fraser Health.

You can also use a different name and date of birth. Just make sure you can remember it so you can get the result and for future testing. Instead of a phone number you could also just give us an email address. This would make you anonymous but would still allow us to get in touch with you if we needed to discuss something.

I agree with you that most STI do not have symptoms and I would hate anyone to not get tested because they were concerned about their privacy.

Here is a link for our STI clinics in Vancouver.
http://healthnurse.wordpress.com/faq-about-sexual-health/4-sti-clinic-locations/vancouver/


Let me know if this would work for you.


HN
www.healthnurse.wordpress.com
www.bccdc.ca
www.stiresource.com