A law recently passed by the Hungarian Parliament has eliminated anonymous testing for HIV in the country. One of the oldest and most successful non­governmental initiatives in Hungary­­an anonymous­testing clinic founded in 1989, even before the transition from authoritarian rule­­is being forced to close. Other clinics modelled on it will also be shut down.

Section 15 (6) of Act XLVII of 1997, "On the Administration and Protection of Medical and Related Personal Data," requires that, if the result of an HIV screening examination "is positive, the person involved must provide his personal identification data at the request of the provider of medical care. The person involved shall be informed of this prior to the screening examination."

State medical authorities in Hungary have failed in the past to respect the privacy of sensitive medical information. Activists from the gay magazine MASOK have documented cases of persons­­whether testing positive or negative for HIV­­who were intimidated and threatened by staff at the State Institute of Venereology to reveal names of sexual contacts. They have also discovered medical files which were conspicuously labelled to indicate the subject's homosexuality. (See IGLHRC ERN Vol. 1, no. 8, 1992.) For eight years, the Karolina Street Clinic in Budapest has provided a safe alternative to repressive state institutions, offering anonymous testing as well as counselling on HIV­ and STD­related issues. Although the law always required state employees to report positive test results, the private clinic was tolerated as an "experiment." The experiment was successful: a one­room office, it administered more HIV tests annually than did the State Institute of Venereology, indicating the degree of trust it fostered. Under the new law, it and similar clinics around the country will be closed.

The Ovegylet Foundation, a nonprofit Hungarian organization working with people living with HIV/AIDS, asks for letters of protest against the new law. Letters should point out that mandatory reporting of positive test results will only result in fewer people being tested for HIV, driving them underground beyond the range of counselling and treatment. It will exert particular damage on communities already disproportionately affected by the epidemic, including sex workers and IV drug users as well as gay men, since these communities already face legal and social discrimination which renders them reluctant to seek assistance from state authorities. Mandatory reporting is deleterious to public health as well as dangerous to personal privacy. The new law on data protection represents a regression to an old and outmoded intrusiveness into individual autonomy. The law should be repealed.

Send letters to:

Minister of Health
Mihaly Kokeny
Nepjoleti Miniszterium

H-1051 Budapest
Arany Janos utca 6/8
HUNGARY
Fax: 361-302-0925

State Ombudsman
Dr. Laszlo Majtenyi
Orszaggyulesi Biztosok Hivatala
Adatvedelmi Biztos

H-1387 Budapest
Pf. 40
HUNGARY

Dr. Judit Csehak
Social and Welfare Committee of the Hungarian Parliament

Magyar Orszaggyules Szocialis es Egeszsegugyi Bizottsaga
H-1055 Budapest
Kossuth Lajos ter 1-3
HUNGARY