I know confidentiality is considered one of the most important things in medicine, but I learned from a friend working in another country how we in the west treat confidentiality, isn't necessarily right for everyone.
My friend is from Zimbabwe, but works with me here in Europe, and she told me what is was like when HIV really got hold of her home country. She describes how all the parents died, and the grandparents were left raising the grandchildren - she banded some of these grandmothers together and now has a charity helping children.
Anyway, she was saying that even when the WHO and other powers made effective medication free for many people in third world countries like hers, people kept on dying, when they shouldn't, especially young men.
She said a lot of the doctors treated patients like they would in the west, and when they first told a young man he was HIV positive, they would tell him in utmost confidence, and outline his treatment plan, and how to take his meds and when to have follow-up appointments and when to get extra help.
The men would leave, not take their meds, and eventually die.
My colleague and friend said confidentiality is different where she is, and you would never tell a young man or woman such a diagnosis, and would automatically involved the whole family. You wouldn't even ask if the family should be there, you would automatically tell them all to be there. Then the patient with HIV became not just a family issue, but a community/village one, and the outcomes suddenly reversed and people stopped dying. It also made a huge difference in stopping parents passing on the virus to their children.
I know in the west, to do something like this goes against everything we're taught. And I'm not saying one is more right than the other, as that is not the issue, but it was really interesting to hear such a significant cultural difference.
Anyway, I'm sure I'll be picked to pieces for this. But I genuinely think it quite fascinating and hope someone out there does to.
I've always thought the secrecy here in the states about medical status and issues is kind of odd...
I think it's odd that privacy only applies to medical issues and not legal issues as well. Since we are innocent until proven guilty shouldn't our privacy be protected until proven guilty? I'm not saying criminal records shouldn't be public, but only after a person has been convicted.
AIDS "took hold" in the 80's, HIPAA certainly wasn't around then, in ANY way, shape or form in ANY country.
I think even in the US, different cultures today treat confidentiality differently. Plenty of patients bring entire families along to appointments, deliveries, into hospice rooms. I really don't think you're posting anything that is truly unique, East/West/North or South
I actually thought the original post was decently written and thought-out. Under normal circumstances, it could provoke some good discussion. However, I think the OP has burned so many bridges with his/her bizarre behavior that the benefit of the doubt has long since been extinguished.
I think you've set a record for a new poster having the highest number of his threads shut down by the mods. That's quite a feat. And it's also what makes 99% of AN posters roll their eyes everytime they click on a thread started by you.
What's sad, is all my stories really happened, and some are definitely unusual, but overall I didn't think much of it would be such shock, or people consider things weird. If you think about it, all the controversy began over a catheter.
Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
If I recall correctly, OP sexualized it in such a way that THAT is what all of us remember.
Lol yes he did! I almost corrected him & said it wasn't about catheters but then I had to remember it was. Oy. That thread was horrible & went off the rails so fast.
Lol yes he did! I almost corrected him & said it wasn't about catheters but then I had to remember it was. Oy. That thread was horrible & went off the rails so fast.
And yet despite this one being interesting and thoughtful.... Its gone off the rails anyway. Go figure?
AcuteHD
458 Posts
I think it's odd that privacy only applies to medical issues and not legal issues as well. Since we are innocent until proven guilty shouldn't our privacy be protected until proven guilty? I'm not saying criminal records shouldn't be public, but only after a person has been convicted.