Nadiya, who lives with HIV, came to the local laboratory to have the tests taken. At the reception, she showed her disability identity card to receive benefits.
In the nurse’s office, they started to demand additional payment from her for test tubes for CD4+ T-lymphocyte and viral load tests. Nadiya refused to pay on principle because she knew this option had to be free.
The argument started on that basis. The laboratory worker asked Nadiya very rudely to put away her “HIV” ID card. Since the laboratory was crowded that day, all the people in the line heard this quarrel and learned about the client’s HIV+ status. Because of this, Nadiya, unable to cope with her emotions, ran away in tears.
Having calmed down, the woman came to REAct specialists for help and justice. A friendly psychologist conducted consultations to stabilize Nadiya’s condition, and the documentator referred the woman to a social worker, who accompanied her to the head of the laboratory. The receptionist initially did not admit her fault, referring to the fact that the client did not understand everything. Still, some explanatory work was conducted, during which she was also informed about the possible consequences of disclosing information about the client’s positive HIV status. After the conversation, Nadiya received all the necessary tests with appropriate discounts.