Job Discussion Forums

[batman1]

My best friend is looking for work in the Middle East or Asia. He has hepatitis C and therefore can't go to a country that has blood tests taken in the country where he would work. Does anyone know of a country in the above areas where he would not be tested, besides Turkey?
Thanks!

[Tainan]

I too would like to hear answers to this question, and it would be great if the discussion could be extended to HIV and anything else which might not prevent someone from being a teacher but which does prevent people from getting visas in a lot of places.

[Tainan]

Batman,

The slightly less than overwhelming number of replies might indicate that there is no known country that does not demand some sort of medical. However, I wonder whether Hep C is something that would disqualify someone. I've heard people say about China--I don't know with what validity--that only HIV and TB incur immediate dismissal.

I think part of the problem is that people for whom this isn't an issue don't really pay much attention to the question, as the deafening silence here indicates.

[bluetortilla]

I think it's a good question. I'm sure many of us have had unprotected sex. And if that's good ol' plain straight heterosexual sex limited to just a few partners, your chances of having HIV are real but probably one in several ten thousand. But still, nobody relishes an HIV test, nobody that I can think of likes that sort of discrimination/humiliation (two points: spare me the 'it's their country and their right' doo doo and second, immigration is never going to stop the spread of HIV; xenophobia might though), and it might give some of us cause to think if we want to work in a country that invades an individual's privacy to that extent and treats you like a second class citizen.
I guess I'm sensitive to the topic because I'm Hep C positive. Someone told me I wouldn't be able to work in Korea but the Korean Embassy said it would be OK. Didn't end up working there though. I don't think Hep C is a big deal.
I think most countries in Asia require an HIV test. Just check out the forum on the country you want to go to. I live in Japan. It surprises me that they don't require it.

[wailing_imam]

No medical for Indonesia

[naturegirl321]

[bluetortilla]

[naturegirl321]

Yeah the movies don't help. I honestly don't thinik I've ever seen one movie where the guy uses a condom. Pregnancy is the least of your worries if you don't use one.

Not offensive. Just kind of shocked that people can be so stupid about such a dangerous thing

[bluetortilla]

Yeah, people can be pretty reckless.

All the world's religions have strict laws about sex, but many don't obey them.

Anyway, I hate to sound like a moral relativist (I'm not) but I've seen people do really stupid things like drinking tap water in India as well, despite knowing better (yes, they got dysentery). So in a way, this is no different- at least in the sense of knowing something to be dangerous but doing it anyway.

I have Hep C as I said but I trusted the bloody hospital that gave me the contaminated blood product. All part of life and nature.

[bluetortilla]

Found a good site for this topic:

http://www.hivtravel.org/Default.aspx?pageId=142

You can scroll to any country in the world to get the scoop on the poop.

I think the test makes most people nervous. I'm at very low risk, but just to ease my mind I'm getting the test done, results coming soon. It's a hard virus to catch despite the fears.
Nearly all Asian countries will reject your teaching visa if you're positive, including now, Indonesia. Personally, I feel the screening to be degrading and irrelevant. Aren't tourists are far more likely to spread HIV than teachers?
Education is the key in lowering transmission, not screening of foreign English teachers.

[bluetortilla]

Just to follow up: my result was negative. I had a slight risk (read that 1 in some thousands), but no more (and a lot less) than a lot of people. The test was still a ordeal and I worried about it a lot. Maybe I'm sensitive, but no fun for me.

I find it hard to understand why more people are not angered by this compulsory testing (if you want to work in Asia, there only three or four countries that don't require it). One cretin on the K. forum said that he was all for quarantining HIV pos. people! NAZI Germany anyone? Sadly, that is happening in Cambodia as I write this. Just horrible.

As a foreigner, do you not feel the brunt of xenophobia when required to be tested for HIV? Don't you feel marked, morally loose, dirty even? I think that's the implication, no question about it.

The other side of the coin is ignorance. Heaps of countries are still convinced that they don't have an AIDS problem. In truth, it is in these very countries that HIV is spreading like wildfire because of inaction, ignorance, and lack of education on the parts of these governments. What I believe the truth to be is that the elite of these respective countries still think that AIDS will only happen to the poorest (Nelson Mandela's son died of AIDS by the way) and that the don't want HIV infected foreigners teaching for fear of their infecting their children, which clearly shows their ignorance of how the disease is spread.

Thailand, ironically, though previously the worst hit of the Southeast Asian nations (Burma now- which does nothing about the problem) in HIV infections, is now seeing a dramatic decline in new infections and much better treatment for those who have the AIDS syndrome. 90% of that is due to government funding, involvement, and education. Hopefully the next generation will see a dramatic decline and stabilizing of the epidemic. Good for them. And lest one think Thailand to be a fleshpot of debauchery, think again, plenty of countries in Asia have the same problem, though it's not as visible.

HIV is a very big deal and a very SERIOUS problem for potentially 100's of millions of people around the world, depending on how it's responded to. So far most countries have simply tried to ignore the problem away. Very bad mistake.

Asian countries screening English teachers? What in the world are possibly hoping to achieve by that? In a way, I really want to boycott countries that screen but I don't really see how I'm going to help people that way. I'm sure I won't be contributing my services to the big K though, the worst offender of countries that invade your privacy in all sorts of ways. Makes one wonder why their so gung ho on English if they're so xenophobic.

I just hope things get better. This is a human rights issue; I wish more teachers would protest having their blood examined for an incurable virus that can only be transmitted through unprotected sex or sharing needles. Things BA's and MA's from developed countries aren't that likely to engage in. HIV doesn't know borders, and it is the uneducated who are spreading it.

[bluetortilla]

Which, finally, brings me full circle in the thread. I do have Hep C antibodies though I do not have active hepatitis. In case you're not aware, Hep C is even harder to catch than HIV- it's very unlikely to be transmitted by sex and sex is not considered a major risk factor for it (not to be confused with hep B, which you can be vaccinated for). I got it from a blood product and it seems dormant in my system. Needless to say I can't give blood.
But do any countries ban you for Hep C? I don't think so but if anyone knows please let me know too.
I don't think any of them test for it, though most countries test for liver function. If it's elevated they could test for it, or maybe just B. They might just ask you if you're an alcoholic.

[dean_a_jones]

[bluetortilla]

[quote="dean_a_jones"]

[choudoufu]