People Living with HIV Discriminated by the Health Care System

People living with HIV and AIDS often face refusal during their non-HIV-related health care, and are directed to the out-patient HIV-unit of Szent László Hospital, the only hospital in Hungary to provide ARV-treatment and care for PLWHIV.
In the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union's opinion, the rights of PLWHIV are often violated when using health care services. Refusing their treatment or directing them to the out-patient HIV-unit of Szent László Hospital causes undue delay in their care, unnecessarily overloads the doctors and the nurses of the HIV-department, and in certain cases violates their right to the highest attainable physical and mental health.
When observing basic hygienic rules in hospitals, HIV-infection is not transmittable, it endangers neither the staff providing health care nor fellow patients, hence the refusal of treatment and care of patients is unjustified.
On November 9, 2011, we managed to take a photo of the following note in the Central Stomatology Institute: "Dental care of patients infected with HIV or AIDS-patients is solely provided in the clinic of the Szent László
Hospital."
It is the HCLU's opinion that the Constitutional rights of PLWHA are violated; hence the HCLU turns to the Parliamentary Commissioner's Office of Hungary and the Equal Treatment Authority.

Share

Related articles

Hungarian Government Obstructs Access to Morning-After Pill

Three Hungarian NGOs are seeking answers from the state health authority after it decided against granting over-the-counter access to a morning-after pill out of concern for women's health.

Newsletter Launch: Global Developments in Religious Freedom and Equal Treatment

The HCLU is pleased to announce the launch of a new quarterly newsletter: Global Developments in Religious Freedom and Equal Treatment. This newsletter, prepared by the International Network of Civil Liberties Organizations (INCLO), focuses on significant international developments, including cases and legislation, concerning religious freedom, equal treatment, and the intersection of the two.

The Silent Growth of Restrictions on Abortion

When the Fundamental Law came into force, HCLU publicly voiced its worries about the constitutional clause on the protection of the fetus which could lead to restrictions on abortion. The Fundamental Law states that along with the right to life and human dignity the fetus shall be protected from conception. The law on abortion has not been changed, however, the government has, through legal and non-legal means, tried to influence pregnant women which has come to undermine the right to self-determination. HCLU calls attention to the emerging problem with the following summary.