🔐Ensure confidentiality and privacy protections

Given the criminalization and discrimination against LGBTQIA+ people in Malaysia, they may fear disclosure of personal information by healthcare providers.

Patients should be made aware that there are certain circumstances where the practitioner would have to disclose some information to certain parties (i.e. if they are treated by a multidisciplinary team, insurance purposes, if they are at high risk of harming themselves,.). This information can only be shared with consent from the patient after they are provided the rationale for sharing it.

Health information is considered sensitive in Malaysia. In addition, in some countries, SOGIESC is also categorized as sensitive information, as leakage of such information can result in discrimination against the patients. . As such, healthcare providers need to take additional measures to ensure patient confidentiality.

• The practitioner is responsible for informing the patient of the disclosure and receiving the patient’s consent before disclosing.

• This information needs to be in the informed consent form and should be highlighted again when meeting the patient, for both in-person or online consultations, to ensure confidence for the protection of safety.

Read more here.

Data gathering

The Independent Expert on SOGI identifies 7 key guiding principles for LGBTQIA+ data collection and management:

• Do no harm when undertaking data-related activities, especially in criminalized and hostile legal context

• Self-determination respects a person’s ability to determine and express their own identities, including gender, sex and sexual orientation without coercion or fear

• Privacy and confidentiality centers’ consent and people’s ability to determine whether they want to disclose personal information and how they would like to do so

• Lawful use of data limits the use of data based on purpose and sharing of the data on a need-to-know basis

• Participation of LGBTQIA+ people in data collection is critical to maximizing the impact of the data.

• Transparency and accountability apply to subjects of data collection and the general public differently. Subjects of data collection must provide informed consent, while the general public must have access to information, including statistics and data analysis

• Impartial is a key principle in ensuring data credibility. Data collectors must be independent, act free from conflicts of interest, and be guided by their duties

Further reading on inclusive data-gathering

• Data collection and management: An essential component in creating awareness and providing effective measures to address violence and discrimination based on SOGI

• Data standard for gender, sex, and variations of sex characteristics