Requirements for partner notification and contact tracing

Each province and territory has different legal requirements for reporting HIV infection and AIDS.

During a pretest counselling session, patients should be informed that, if the test result is positive, the physician is ethically obliged to ensure that sexual and drug-use partners are made aware that they may have been exposed to HIV.

If an HIV-positive patient refuses or is unable to inform his or her partners, the possibility that either the physician or a public health professional will notify partners should be discussed with the patient before such disclosure occurs.

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