Article 17 of the Saudi AIDS Prevention Law

This article balances the confidentiality of the infected person's information against the right of the other spouse and of contacts to know what affects their health.

First: if one spouse's infection is established at a health body

• The health body must notify the infected person of their infection.
• The infected person must notify the other party.
• They must sign an acknowledgment of that.

Second: the health body's duties after that

• Summoning the other party and carrying out the necessary tests on them.
• Summoning the infected person's contacts and carrying out the necessary tests on them. Under Article 1, a contact is a person who is in contact with the infected person in a way of living together in which transmission of the disease is likely.
• Assessing the position of those dealing with infected persons. Under Article 1, a person dealing with them is one who has service or work contact with the infected person in a way in which transmission of the disease may be possible.

The Regulations: the Regulations set the procedures for notification and summoning.

Relation to confidentiality: Article 16 bars disclosing the infected person's information except in the cases set out in the Law, and this article is one of those cases. Note that the article makes notifying the other spouse a duty of the infected person themselves, with their signing an acknowledgment, and places on the health body the duty to summon the other party and test them.

It is linked to Article 18, which binds the infected person to preventive guidance and not to deliberately transmit infection. A person with a family matter connected with this situation may consult a lawyer who specializes in personal status matters.