New regulation on HIV/AIDS disclosure set to take effect in Chongqing

Chongqing has recently adopted new HIV prevention regulations requiring people living with HIV to disclose their status to their spouse, sexual partners, and anyone they intend to marry, while allowing medical institutions to step in if they fail to do so.

The Chongqing Municipal People's Congress Standing Committee passed the regulation on Wednesday. It will take effect on World AIDS Day on Dec 1.

Under the regulation, people living with HIV or AIDS must promptly inform their spouse, people with whom they have sexual relations, and prospective marriage partners of their infection or diagnosis. They must also disclose their status to medical staff when seeking treatment and cooperate with follow-up care and epidemiological investigations.

If they fail to fulfill the disclosure obligation, medical institutions are authorized to notify those concerned on the basis of epidemiological investigations and provide medical guidance.

The regulation seeks to reduce transmission risks while defining limits on the disclosure of personal information. No organization or individual may publicly disclose personal information about people living with HIV or AIDS, or their family members, without consent from the affected person or their guardian, according to the regulation.

China's national Regulation on HIV/AIDS Prevention and Treatment, in force since 2006, requires people living with HIV or AIDS to promptly inform those with whom they have sexual relations of their status.

Several provincial-level regions have since introduced more detailed disclosure rules.

People living with HIV or AIDS are obliged to notify their spouses or sexual partners in places including Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, Yunnan, and Guangdong provinces. Disease-control authorities or medical institutions are allowed to notify those concerned if an infected person fails to disclose their status.

Guangdong also requires people to disclose their status to a prospective spouse before marriage registration.

Chinese courts have also recognized HIV as a serious illness that should be disclosed before marriage. In cases published by the Supreme People's Court, marriage could be revoked after one spouse was found to have concealed an HIV diagnosis before registration.