Rodolfo Parulan Jr. / Getty Images
HAS wishes, among other things, that the healthcare professional or a third party can inform the partner of a patient with the latter’s consent.
SEXUAL HEALTH – After free condoms, a law on professional secrecy? To prevent sexually transmitted infections (STIs), the High Authority for Health (HAS) proposes to change the legislative framework in order to ” to offer the patient in whom an STI is diagnosed the possibility of choosing the way of informing his partner(s) and thus favoring the initiation of a notification process”.
In a notice published this Thursday, March 9, 2023, the HAS specifies: “The idea would be for the healthcare professional or a third party to be able to inform a patient’s partner with the latter’s consent. » A possibility that is currently not allowed by professional secrecy.
What’s next following this ad
#Communiqué | HAS publishes its recommendations on the partner notification process, which encourages… https://t.co/uI0Sv20HgM
– High Authority for Health (@HAS_sante)
The process known as notification to the partner(s) is a major prevention tool, recalls the HAS. It aims to interrupt the chains of transmission, by reaching a population at higher risk, so as to minimize the associated morbidity and mortality.
STIs on the rise among young people
The possibility of expedited partner processing (TAP) “should also be authorized in France”, estimated the High Authority for Health, whose opinions are generally followed by the government. Accelerated treatment consists of giving a patient diagnosed with an STI a prescription for the benefit of a partner, without prior consultation with the latter. Current regulations do not allow this.
Such a change in the regulations would allow “partners to be treated as soon as possible, especially in the absence of symptoms and if it is known that they will not go to a doctor or approach the health system”loves the HAS.
What’s next following this ad
Sexually transmitted infections “are on the rise among young people”, according to Emmanuel Macron. According to Public Health Francethe incidence rate of chlamydia diagnoses among women under the age of 25 increased from 3.2 per 1,000 people in 2018 to 5.2 per 1,000 in 2021. Over the same period, it doubled among men of this same age group (from 1.4 in 1,000 to 2.9).
This law would be added to the measure concerning free condoms in pharmacies for those under 26, implemented last January. The latter is so far a success.
See also on Le HuffPost :