STI testing, given the current legal situation.

[Health Nurse]

Hi All

I have been seeing a few nervous people at the clinic in regard to accessing sexual health services if it becomes illegal to purchase sex.

Your health records are well protected with us in terms of privacy and confidentiality e.g. we would never share this information to your family doctor without your permission.

But, your health records can be subpoenaed by the court.

Remember that at our two Vancouver clinics you can use a made up name and date of birth. There is also no need to leave any contact details as you can call up for results.

It is also possible to talk about personal situations and not have them on your medical record. Just tell the nurse or doctor that you want to talk about something private and don’t want the information recorded.

Vancouver clinics

Vancouver STI clinic 655 west 12th ave (appointments)
http://smartsexresource.com/get-tes...ovincial-sti-clinic-bc-centre-disease-control

Bute street clinic 1170 Bute street (drop-in only)
http://smartsexresource.com/get-tested/clinic-finder/vancouver-bute-street-clinic


You could also go to any doctor’s office for an STI check up. Tell them it is a private situation you don’t want recorded in your health record or just say your there for a check up and ask all your private questions at www.smartsexresource.com



You can always send me a PM if you have any questions or reply to this post.

HN
www.smartsexresource.com

 

[GATSBY]

Thank you Nurse!

 

[AllisonElm]

This is great to know! Thanks for posting.

 

[newatit]

and scary too. Many people will not know this, and will suffer and spread diseases until they have to seek help. Yes, if there is anything that creates a bad situation, it is the news that my documents could be gathered through a court action. And so what would happen if I refused to or had forgotten the false name or ID given? Probably we would be charged with not co-operating with the police. This thing gets really awful when you look at the side effects.

So can the Police go into the drug store and find out who is taking antibiotics for STI's without having a name? Is our privacy protected at the Pharmacy counter too?

 

[bcneil]

Thank you.
Its something I never even thought about........by making pooners into pervert criminals. There will be a reduction in pooners getting themselves tested.
Or maybe guys will just go less often..
Which therefore means a more dangerous work environment.

 

[Health Nurse]

and scary too. Many people will not know this, and will suffer and spread diseases until they have to seek help. Yes, if there is anything that creates a bad situation, it is the news that my documents could be gathered through a court action. And so what would happen if I refused to or had forgotten the false name or ID given? Probably we would be charged with not co-operating with the police. This thing gets really awful when you look at the side effects.

So can the Police go into the drug store and find out who is taking antibiotics for STI's without having a name? Is our privacy protected at the Pharmacy counter too?

Hi newatit

There would be no way they could link your anonymous chart with you. They wouldn’t even know you had a test done.

Also it is not illegal to have an STI and to get treatment for it. The antibiotics used for the treatment of STI like chlamydia are common antibiotics that can be prescribed for different reasons.

STI are also common for example in 2012 we had 12,364 cases of chlamydia in BC. If someone had chlamydia passed to them the only conclusion you could make would be that the person was having sex.

HN
www.smartsexresource.com

 

[Health Nurse]

Thank you.
Its something I never even thought about........by making pooners into pervert criminals. There will be a reduction in pooners getting themselves tested.
Or maybe guys will just go less often..
Which therefore means a more dangerous work environment.

Hi bcneil

I completely agree with you.

Other places around the world have shown us when the police crackdown on things like sex work and drug use, that preventable infections seem to increase.

Hopefully people will still feel comfortable about using our local clinics.

I listened to a presentation by an Australian doctor last year who worked for the public health department in Victoria Australia where sex work is legal. He was saying that from their stats they found that the rate of STI for sex workers in the state was less than the general population.

HN
www.smartsexresource.com

 

[Perbster99]

It looks like I am missing the point but why would the new laws create concern for somebody just to get tested? How can you tie the fact you got tested with having purchased sex?

 

[nickcan]

It looks like I am missing the point but why would the new laws create concern for somebody just to get tested? How can you tie the fact you got tested with having purchased sex?

I am thinking if you go to the family doc or the same clinic every few months to get tested they would get suspicious.
Less likely if you are a teenager but if you are a 40+ years old kind of unusual don't you think?
Very few get in/out of relationships that quickly.

 

[Health Nurse]

It looks like I am missing the point but why would the new laws create concern for somebody just to get tested? How can you tie the fact you got tested with having purchased sex?

There is no way you can tie testing to purchasing sex so there is no risk with getting a test done.

They have just found in the past that if someone feels stigmatized or marginalized for legal reasons that they are less likely to feel trust toward government agencies like health care.

Hopefully people will already feel comfortable with our health care system that this will not be a problem.

HN
www.smartsexresource.com

 

[nickcan]

Who is 'they'? This is an entirely new level of paranoia.

It could be MSP following the billing, your doctor, your ICBC insurance adjuster if you get in a car accident (have access to your medical records when you sign a waiver).
Big brother is watching, even phone calls/text messages could be traced now a days, haven't you read the news?

 

[newatit]

Thank you Health Nurse, that puts my mind at ease considerably. So the game remains, don't pay for sex, pay for something else, and if you get an STI you never got it from paid sex. Simple. Thank you.