STDs and HIV Testing
Someone emailed me an interesting question today which I thought I would ask here:
…I was wondering where can someone go and get tested for all types of STDs and HIV here in Kuwait… would really appreciate your help…
I never thought about that before. I am guessing private clinics? The thing is if you do get your test back and you’re HIV positive does the clinic have to inform the ministry or do they keep your results confidential?
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Oct 11, 2009
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32 Comments, add your own...
1. Abul 3abid | October 11th, 2009 at 3:53 pm
they would definatly notify the ministry who in tern would take you to the infectious diseases hospital and later deport you.
2. Zorbon | October 11th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
Any hospital/private clinic can do it. However, if the person is tested positive, they are obligated to inform the ministry of health. The person is usually deported (if non-kuwaiti of course).
3. Environmental | October 11th, 2009 at 4:01 pm
and if kuwaiti? :p
4. Bingo Man | October 11th, 2009 at 4:05 pm
Actually HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases tests are done this way, if you ask for one they will tell you to comeback after 2 to 3 days in which they test your blood sample and re-test it @the ministries labs in Shuwaikh and get you an official signed paper from the ministry if you were negative or positive.
Oh asking for an STD/HIV test will require a Civil ID !
5. Sam | October 11th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
Not any hospital or private clinic can do it.
These tests are conducted only in the Infectious disease hospital in Sabah Health Region.
Even if your blood is collected from any hospital or private clinic it will go to this hospital for these diseases.
And yes it’s obligatory to inform the authorities with positive results, even if Kuwaiti.
6. Sam | October 11th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Sorry, misunderstood that you were talking about the deportation :)
7. Sfsa78 | October 11th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
Go to bahrain and get it done there. Under any name.
8. mayhem | October 11th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
you can test your blood for HIV or any Infectious diseases for FREE.
Go to Kuwait Central Blood Bank, registered for any blood donation program and walla… done.
If nobody calls you for atleast 2 weeks meaning your AIDS free…
hitting 2 birds in one stone.. you already did a good deed and you got yourself tested for free..
LOL..
kidding aside..
HIV testing is only done in government hospitals as far as i know.. no private clinic are doing it locally they are sending their blood samples abroad, it’s a third party lab outside kuwait are doing it for the private clinics..
9. Mathai | October 11th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
People can get themselves tested at infectious deceases hospital. Dont know about private hospitals but I believe even they send their samples to the gov. hospitals.
10. ohyeah | October 11th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
WAL 3YAZO BELLA….ER7AMNA YA YA RAB……I heard once….there is a place in al awqaf complex or near it doing the test for free….to encourage ppl to do it…..but definitely they will inform the authorities …..and i think you should tell them or you going to die! stupid to ignore it or hide it……..I think someone will mary soon mabrouk!
11. Abdullah | October 11th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
some private clinic do HIV testing and does not require civil ID. only a name and a number .. I know for a fact that a lab in Jabryia do the test .. it take 10-14 days .. and samples are sent to Germany
12. HANEYL | October 11th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
I think my mom’s workplace…a.k.a national lab of kuwait,sharq….coz ive been there when people come and asks for tests….they send the blood to U.S. and gets the results in a week and noone needs to know…
13. frankom | October 11th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
this is a really good question and people should know how to act
14. az | October 11th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
well for marriage there is a place near subah hospital, its hard to explain it writting….but if u enter the sabah hospital area from the round with loads of round abouts u take the first left turn (sabah hosp will be on ur left once u turn and a parkign area on ur right)….
drive all the way down the street and ur will see a building for loads of different things….ministry of this that etc etc…its all doors aroudn the whole thing….each door being another ministry….behind all that is the building for marrige where they do the test for everything…..
also if for marriage this is the only place that the marrige ministry accept the results from….its take about a week to get the results
15. TanGo | October 11th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
Private hospitals and private clinical labs in Kuwait are NOT authorized to run HIV [AIDS] tests. You may give the sample there but tests will ONLY be run at The Virology Labs of Ministry of Health. Those labs are located in Sha3b. Needless to say, if you’re an expatriate and you test positive, you’re in deep shit.
In the whole Near East the best place to run those and similar tests [without dramatic results, if you test positive] is the American University Medical Center in Beirut, Lebanon. You can pass there anytime, donate a blood sample as an out_patient; and they will email the test results to you within 48-72 hours. Basta. No questions asked.
Using the same blood sample, AUMC [Beirut] could also run a battery of STDs [sexually transmitted diseases] for a very reasonable price, and would also email results to your address.
If you’ve been screwing around [unprotected], its worth running the tests……..! And while at it check your CBC and PSA if you’re over 40 years old.
16. Spicy | October 11th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
Virology Lab of MOH in Shaab is th only center in Kuwait to do HIV testing.. Samples from any hospital r sent ther for tests…So there’s no escape..!!
17. MJ | October 11th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
Go to international clinic, they do it. Not sure about HIV. Be careful if you do it thru your insurance. They send the results back to your office. The entire office will know about it since the insurance company sends the claim to your office. Better go to Dubai for proximity ( the american hospital) . Privacy, go to london. Hope this helps. Next time, use protection. No more living la vida loca.
18. m | October 11th, 2009 at 7:43 pm
just go to Dubai and do it
19. will | October 11th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
i know that back in switzerland .. there was a list of places where u could go, not show any sort of ID, and get tested. you can put your name as mickey mouse if you like, it will remain completely anonymous. VERY useful considering clinics are MUST report any HIV/AIDS patient. They will make sure everyone you have contact with will know that you are HIV positive. Imagine how bad life would be, not only will you fall ill from an insect bite, but everyone treats you like a zombie.
20. 2twentythree3 | October 11th, 2009 at 8:37 pm
You are all talking complete rubbish.
You can be tested for STDs and/or AIDS/HIV in any private clinic.
My friend just did the compulsory tests for marriage. HIV included. Cost her 135kd in Private Clinic.
21. Abdullah | October 11th, 2009 at 8:50 pm
You can do the testing at the Medical Council, located at Al-Sabah hospital block in Shuwaikh. I am required to do it soon, may be this week. I’ll work as a general dentist for the Ministry of Health. They said blood testing results take about one week.
Even for those who will get married, they are required to do premarital medical testing. If you walk there (Medical Council), you will see signs leading you to their center.
22. MAD MAT | October 11th, 2009 at 9:28 pm
OK, but have you asked your self , what if?? anyone did??
i know that most doctors aboard are forced to take that test compulsory, because of their work nature, but for any reason, what if you, me or anyone was diagnosed with HIV? what the hell would you do??
i know i might take it as a slow death sentence :)
23. Sfsa78 | October 11th, 2009 at 9:36 pm
Remember not to panic if you come out positive.. False positives are very very common when testing for HIV.
24. KTDP | October 11th, 2009 at 9:47 pm
Your blood is collected in any clinic and sent for testing at virology.
If your positive regardless of whether it’s because of false positives or a trip to thailand you’ll be retested and if it’s still positive then you go to al shi3ib center for a consultation. You’re given the option to begin anti-retroviral therapy or can leave the country if you wish.
Some kuwaiti’s choose to live abroad and some foreigners do as well. The decision is largely based on ignorance and the fact that every job requires testing now a days.
The easiest and fastest way to get tested is to give blood.
People with endstage AIDS (there is a difference between being HIV positive and having endstage disease) are usually deported if they are foreigners and admitted to a special ward at the infectious disease unit if they are not.
25. Al | October 12th, 2009 at 8:33 am
Before the law stated that anyone HIV/AIDS positive would be kept in the Infectius Disease hospital, however once the government researched this matter more and realised it wasnt feasible to lock people with the disease up they decided to let them live a normal life but report to the Infectious disease hospital to take treatment on a monthly basis.
Any test you do in a clinic for HIV is sent to the virology lab in Shaab. Any positive result will be recorded by the ministry. Even when you do your tests in a private clinic it is still sent to Sha’ab. That is why HIV tests take at least 3 days because they have to be sent through MOH. Even if you do tests which are sent abroad if the result comes back positive it is a law that the laboratory/ private clinic must report your case to M.O.H. The only benefit you have of doing the test abroad is IF your result comes back negative no one will know you did it.
26. Al | October 12th, 2009 at 8:37 am
Additional note, the initial test is an ELISA test which does a general scan, IF you test positive it is re-tested with a more accurate Western Blot test to confirm the positive result. Only after confirming the results will they be released to the patient.
If you donate blood at Blood bank a general HIV scan is conducted, anyone who comes out positive will have a sample of their blood re-tested at Sha’ab with the Westernblot to double check and confirm the positive result. This is to avoid the anxiety of giving people false-positive results!
27. suzy | October 12th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
I know that private clinics send the samples abroad and once the testing is done the reports are faxed back to the laboratories.Be it HIV,drug testing,hepatitis,STDs,etc.Tons of people come forward for tests asking for complete privacy.Its usually the locals and few expats.
28. Dude, watch your fly! | October 12th, 2009 at 6:45 pm
Any GUM clinic run by the MOH should be able to prescribe tests for the STD panel : HIV proviral DNA PCR, chlamydia, neisseria gonorrhoea, syphilis and HCV RNA PCR. And these are straightforward tests so you don’t really need to send the samples to the US, UK or much less to Dubai.Mind you with the serological tests there is every chance that infections during the window period will slip through the net and therefore, inquire after the testing methodology, the sensitivity, the specificity and test validation by the laboratory. It makes sound sense to get the test done at any CAP (College of American Pathologists) accreditated laboratory of which I am sure there’s at least one in the state of Kuwait – the geography is immaterial. If you are a woman who has started sexual activity at an earlier age, or either you or your partner is promiscuous then you had better take a molecular test for HPV. Certain high risk HPV types increase your risk of getting cervical cancer.I feel real sorry for women in a polygamous relationships and their risk of catching sexually transmitted diseases from the hubby Routine PAP smear screening is also a good idea.
29. Mike | October 13th, 2009 at 12:40 am
Will you lot stop harping on about protection – not everyone catches HIV through unprotected sex.
You can catch the virus through sharing drug needles, or through a blood transfusions (if the blood has been tainted). An HIV+ mother for example can give birth to an HIV+ child.
The Middle East DOES have a big HIV/AIDS problem.
In 2007, the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) said HIV/AIDS in the Arab world was up by 300%.
People with HIV/AIDS in the Arab world die much younger compared to those with the disease in Europe.
The United Nations has always been critical of the Arab world for not being forthcomming with statistical data.
30. Meshoooo | October 15th, 2009 at 9:57 am
what if a Local tested + for HIV…would life be over for him/her? regarding professional life, would he/she be admitted to hospital for life? and if he/she were to live a normal life while checking with the infectious hospital…would their status be confidential?
I know that in the states, the patient’s rights and status is protected and he/she can work and live a normal life.
by the way, I read that there is no reason an HIV patient can live a perfectly healthy life and out live most healthy individuals if they persue a healthy life style and stick with the antiviral drug cocktails especially when considering the advances in medical sience.
31. Curious | October 18th, 2009 at 6:51 pm
Mark,
Is there anyway you can find out the list of things that they test for during the pre-marital screening process they’ve apparently now made mandatory? Everyone I’ve read says things like “Genetic disease like ____ etc.” and “STDs like HIV/AIDs etc”
What in Gods name is the “etc”
It would help a lot
32. Sami | November 5th, 2009 at 4:24 am
Can anyone give me the street adress of the MOH Virology Lab in Shaab?
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