Korean Job Discussion Forums

[rapier]

Has anyone had a blood test here in Korea? Anonymously? If so, where?
reason being I was thinking about getting such a screening here in Seoul. Rumor has it that there is an English speaking clinic that provides anonymous testing, as well as a counselling service for anyone testing positive...Is this true? If so, where do I find it and whats the contact phone number.
Some people are saying that the testing here is under the guise of anonymity, but they actually will deport you if you should test Pos. One or two other people have said no, its quite Ok, its anonymous...
I try to get a blood test every 2 years on average, my last was in London 2 years back...its time again...
I contacted the tourist info lines , they didn't even know what aids was etc and ended up putting me through to the Yongsan military base...I thought I'd found the contact number on the net, but it seems nobody ever answers the phone...
So, any info!!!!????

[hadeshorn]

Under current Korean law. The clinics are obligated to notify the authorities if they have found someone HIV positive. The government then tries to track down who else you may have affected and then deport you out of the country.

Source of information

www.wsgforum.com

[J.B. Clamence]

[Pyongshin Sangja]

Just tie your self to a stool, arms and legs bound, and have someone push you into a pond. If you float, you are AIDS free. If not, you had AIDS.

[darkpoet]

Time to resurrect this thread! Especially since the question was never answered!!! I'm curious as to the answer as back home I was used to getting a blood test every 3 months...

It'd be nice to get an answer... even if you can't get a blood test anonymously...

WHERE IN SEOUL TO GET A BLOOD TEST?

Maybe the Foriegner's Clinic in Hannam?[/quote]

[Real Reality]

Minimal privacy (Expats with HIV face a trip home)
Many foreigners do not know that medical privacy is minimal in Korea. Medical procedures such as HIV tests are supposed to be confidential. The government began enacting laws in 1986 to protect those with HIV or AIDS, but the reality is that these measures can be circumvented. "Sometimes a company will call to find out what type of medical insurance bills they are paying," says Lee Chang-wu, secretarial manager with the Korean Alliance to Defeat AIDS. "And if AIDS treatment is on it, they'll find out." Korean doctors are required to report HIV-positive test results to the local Public Health Center. Unless a test is anonymous, doctors will report the patient's identity as well. If a test comes back HIV-positive, the Public Health Center runs additional tests, and if the results match the hospital exam, the case is passed on to the Korea Center for Disease Control. After two more exams at the Korea Center for Disease Control, the patient can be listed as an HIV carrier.
The government subsidizes treatment for Korean HIV carriers, which would cost 1 million won a month otherwise. But some Koreans leave the country for exams and treatment to protect their confidentiality. When illegal discrimination against HIV-positive and AIDS patients occurs in Korea, but many are afraid to publicly step forward with a lawsuit that would include their names.

Threat of deportation
Expatriates found to have HIV don't have the option of staying for treatment. When the HIV-positive status is verified, either the company or the National Institute of Health notifies immigration.

Help for foreigners
Even if foreigners with HIV are allowed to stay, getting treatment is another problem. Some hospitals refuse to treat HIV-positive patients, and no system exists to treat foreign HIV patients. When another illegal immigrant from a southeast Asian country collapsed, a pastor took him to the emergency room. Brain surgery was required, but the hospital declined to perform any surgery as he not only had AIDS, he was an expatriate. The patient died in the emergency room.
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200402/27/200402272202052009900091009101.html

Asan International Clinic
388-1 Pungnap - Dong Songpa - Gu
Seoul, Korea 138 - 736
TEL:02-3010-5001~2
FAX: 02-3010-5004
[email protected]

Kangbuk Samsung Hospital
108 Pyong-dong
Chung-ku Seoul
Dr. Shin Ho-Chul (Tel : 2001-2911)
(Director International Clinic)

Samsung Medical Centre
50 Ilwon-dong
Kangnam-ku Seoul
DR Yoo Shin-ae (Tel: 3410-0200)
(Director International Clinic)

Seoul Chungang Hospital
(ASAN Medical Centre)
388-1 Poongnap-dong
Songpa-ku, Seoul 138-040
Dr.Kwak (Tel : 3010-5001/2)
(Director International Clinic)

Seoul Foreign Clinic
5-3 Hannam-dong
Yongsan-ku Seoul
Dr. H.S. Rhee (Tel :796-1871-2)
(Director of Clinic)

Severance Yonsei Hospital
134 Shinchon-dong
Sodaemun-ku, Seoul 120-752
Dr. John Linton (Tel : 361-6540)
(Director International Clinic)

Soonchunhyang Hospital
657-58 Hannam-dong
Yongsan-ku Seoul 140-743
Dr Jang (Tel : 709-9158)
(Director International Clinic)

[diver]

I asked a Korean. It's quite simple really.

Are you a foreigner? (Yes)

Then you have AIDS.

Seriously, if you want an HIV test, you can go to almost any Korean clininc/hospital and get one. I can't promise it will be anonymous. As you are a foreigner, it probably will only be anonymous until you test positive.

[kelly]

The anonymous testing is not anonymous, I've known of one person who went to the so-called anonymus clinic in Hannam/Itaewon, was told he tested positive and was sent back home ie. deported, only when he got home he got tested again and it came back negative, as soon as he tested positive here he was deported, sucks for him as it wasn't even true!!

[Pyongshin Sangja]

By the way Korea haters, AIDS testing is not anonymous in Canada. It has been mandatory for health care providers to supply the govt. with all results of AIDS tests for several years in almost all provinces. Go to the Haebangcheon International Clinic. They are very nice, the test for HIV and several other nasties takes 5 days for results and costs W40,000 if you have Korean medical insurance. They take credit cards.

[seoulunitarian]

Try the new FDA-approved home test: http://gallery.bcentral.com/Gallery/ProductDetails.aspx?GID=4992485&PID=2287169&page=1&sortOrder=0

I'm really not sure about customes laws though.

Daniel

[Real Reality]

Anonymous HIV Testing
The main difference between anonymous testing and the other types is that you do not give your name at any time, and do not have to show a Medicare card or any other piece of ID. Even if someone at the test site does know who you are, your name will not be written down on paper or computer.

When you book an appointment for an anonymous HIV test, you are asked for your first name (or another name that you will remember). When you go in for counselling and the blood test, you are given a card which has an anonymous code (made up of a letter and some numbers) on it that only you and the Sexual Health Centre will know. When you return to get your results and counselling after the test, you are asked to bring the card back with you. This card is the only link to your test result.
http://www.gnb.ca/0053/hiv_aids/TypesofTesting-e.asp

Are people with HIV/AIDS allowed to come into Canada? Canadian immigration law is currently in transition: a new Immigration and Refugee Protection Act is set to replace the old Immigration Act in the spring of 2002.

Under both the old and the new laws, short-term visitors with HIV are usually allowed to enter Canada.

As to immigrants and refugees, the situation will change with the new legislation. Under the old law, refugees with HIV who appear at the border or who are in Canada have been allowed to stay, but immigrants and refugees who are outside Canada have generally not been allowed entry into Canada. Under the new law, most people with HIV will still be unable to immigrate to Canada. However, HIV-positive refugees and HIV-positive spouses, common-law partners, and children of a Canadian citizen or permanent resident will be allowed to come to Canada.

Shouldn't Canada refuse immigrants with HIV because they will place demands on our already overburdened health care system and use services that other Canadians need?
No, at least not automatically. Many would-be immigrants with HIV will make greater contributions to Canadian society than their medical condition would cost.
http://www.aidslaw.ca/Maincontent/issues/Immigration/immigrationFAQrev3.htm

[philinkorea]

where is Haebangcheon International Clinic?

[chiaa]

I have been to numerous doctors and have never shown them any kind of ID when showing up. They just took my name and that's it. Never even filled out a medical history (always thought that was weird). In fact, my main doctor only knows me as ũ����.

Dont go to a foreign clinc. Go to a regular doctor and they will send it out to the same place that the foreign clinic will. I would be for half the price

[uberscheisse]

i did a full bloodwork thing at the foreigner clinic in itaewon. HIV negative, (whew) but i have no clue their privacy policy.

it cost me 130,000 (no insurance) but i got valuable nutritional info as well. apparently cholesterol has the same kung-fu grip that AIDS has...

[Pyongshin Sangja]

Haebangcheon International Clinic only charges W40,000. Itaewon rips you off large. That said, Seoultrader had a post here recently about a place close to the USO that does it for free. I'm not digging it up right now.