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Mary Ann Benitez

Most foreign domestic helpers are being required to have an HIV test after arriving in Hong Kong,  even though the government's testing policy is voluntary, according to a regional report to be released this month.
The widespread practice could open up the city to charges of discrimination.
Sixteen places, including Hong Kong, were studied for the report entitled 'State of Health of Migrants 2007: Mandatory Testing', conducted under the auspices of the Kuala Lumpur-based Co-ordination of Action Research on Aids and Mobility. Technical support was provided by Vrije Universiteit Medical Centre  in the Netherlands.
The report found that in Hong Kong, 97 per cent of the Indonesian domestic helpers interviewed and 67 per cent of the Filipino helpers interviewed had been tested.
It said 87 per cent of employers requested retesting on arrival in Hong Kong.
'This high percentage of testing comes from the requirement of either the employers or recruitment agencies; there is no policy or law requiring it,' the report says.
But there also are no laws or policies that forbid employers or recruiters from requiring health testing, it adds.
Elijah Fung, manager of the St John's Cathedral HIV Education Centre, who compiled the Hong Kong section of the report, said: 'The workers do not know what kind of tests they undergo and they do not receive a copy of the test results, which violates their human rights.'
She was told that some private clinics  offer special check-up packages designed for domestic helpers that included HIV testing.
The Hong Kong report was based on interviews with 108 Filipinos and 97 Indonesians and focus groups with 22 Indonesians and 12 Filipinos. Fifteen telephone interviews were also made with employers of helpers and a visit made to two employment agencies and health-testing clinics.
Aside from HIV testing, the helpers said they underwent tests for pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, chest X-rays and other tests in Hong Kong, even when they had undergone exactly the same tests in their home countries.
Ms Fung said she clarified the testing policy with the Department of Health and was told that mandatory HIV testing was only required by blood transfusion services, and not for immigration and visas.
Dolores Balladares-Pelaez, chairwoman of United Filipinos in Hong Kong, said the practice had been going on for a long time. There also were instances when the women were asked by employers not to get pregnant when they went home on leave, demanding that they get injectable birth control drugs in Hong Kong.
'This is against human rights. Women and their families have the right to reproduce. But if the helper resists, she might lose her job,' she said.
Employer demands
The percentage of HK employers who seek health retesting of domestic helpers, including for HIV, is
87%



Most new maids forced to undergo HIV tests