Fine of up to 20 million VND for disclosing a patient’s HIV status to a third party without having the patient's consent in Vietnam

Fine of up to 20 million VND for disclosing a patient’s HIV status to a third party without having the patient's consent in Vietnam (illustrative photo)

According to Article 19 Decree 117/2020/ND-CP, disclosing that a person is infected with HIV without their consent can lead to a fine of up to 20,000,000 VND. To be specific:

- A fine ranging from VND 10.000.000 to VND 15.000.000 shall be imposed for commission of one of the following violations:

+ Failing to give priority to time and duration for broadcasting of information and educational contents about HIV/AIDS prevention and control on radio and television stations and content ratio and column positions in printed newspapers, television newspapers and online newspapers;

+ Charging for the provision of information and education about HIV/AIDS prevention and control, unless payments are made under signed contracts for implementation of national HIV/AIDS prevention and control programs or such activities are sponsored by domestic and/or foreign entities;

+ Disclosing a patient’s HIV status to a third party without having the patient's consent, unless information is provided to serve HIV/AIDS epidemiological surveillance purposes and when giving HIV test results as prescribed by law in Vietnam.

- A fine ranging from VND 15.000.000 to VND 20.000.000 shall be imposed for disclosing name, address and photo of a person infected with HIV without having his/her consent, unless information is provided to serve HIV/AIDS epidemiological surveillance purposes and when giving HIV test results as prescribed by law in Vietnam.

- Remedial measure: Compulsory direct apology to the person infected with HIV, family members of the person infected with HIV, and public correction of the information on mass media where the person infected with HIV resides continuously for 03 days as prescribed by law, except in cases where the person infected with HIV does not agree to a public apology.

More details can be found in Decree 117/2020/ND-CP, which comes into force in Vietnam from November 15, 2020.

Thuy Tram

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