Why would the Government make HIV testing compulsory?
I have heard that the Government intends to make HIV testing mandatory for all people who go to health facilities, as a measure to stop the spread of HIV. Don’t you think this will violate our rights, since many of us still fear to test for HIV?
QDear Doctor,
I have heard that the Government intends to make HIV testing mandatory for all people who go to health facilities, as a measure to stop the spread of HIV. Don’t you think this will violate our rights, since many of us still fear to test for HIV?
Shouldn’t we be allowed to voluntarily choose to test?
Florence
ADear Florence,
The reason many people fear to know their HIV status is because of the stigma associated with HIV/ AIDS.
When HIV was first diagnosed in California, USA, in the early 1980s, it was referred to as “gay-related immunodeficiency syndrome”. This is because gay men were the majority of the people who had it then and they were highly stigmatised.
In Uganda today, most of the people who have HIV are not homosexuals, but the stigma associated with the disease has stayed.
We, therefore, need to make HIV testing one of the normal routine tests and we should seek medical care and advice.
The services should be offered to all people who seek medical help, for instance, those who go to health centres to test for malaria, high blood pressure and diabetes, among other diseases.
Many healthcare facilities are now practising what is referred to as provider initiated testing and counselling as opposed to voluntary counselling and testing. But still many do not test for HIV because they fear to do the test.
The HIV test should, therefore, be a routine so that many people are tested. This way, we shall stop losing people to AIDS, which develops when one has lived with HIV for a long time, often without knowing.