The CDC and AIDS.gov promote routine HIV-testing.
In honor of HIV Testing Day, which was June 27th, the Centre for Disease Control and AIDS.gov promoted HIV testing among those between 13 and 64 years of age. HIV-testing is an important priority of the Department of Health and Human Services in the United States. In the USA, of the approximately one million people who are infected with HIV, 25% do not know that they carry the virus. Because the knowledge of being HIV-positive can be powerful in changing behavior and protecting loved ones, HIV-testing is paramount in reducing the rate of infection.
At first glance, however, the barrier of stigma would appear to make this goal of regular HIV-testing untenable. For an individual to actively seek out an AIDS test speaks to that individual’s feelings of risk which ties in to behavior. People asking for an AIDS test open themselves up to judgment, whether real or perceived, of their behaviors and their activities. The stigma and judgment that surrounds AIDS continues to be a hindrance to people requesting HIV-testing.
However, in a brilliant, but simple and painfully obvious solution, the CDC has managed to address the stigma that surrounds HIV-testing. The CDC recommends that all Americans between the ages of 13 and 64 receive HIV testing during the normal course of medical care. By having people automatically receive HIV-testing when they seek medical care, whether it be for a routine physical or when they are admitted to emergency, the stigma surrounding testing is removed. Testing now becomes part of the normal part of health care behavior and culture. Instead of people having to actively seek testing, they are instead automatically offered testing and must actively opt-out of the testing if they choose to do so.
Offering testing to everyone between the ages of 13 and 64 also creates an opportunity for dialogue between the individual and the health practitioner irrespective of the person’s decision to take the test. During this discussion, the health practitioner can provide information about AIDS which will help those who are HIV-negative remain free of the virus. With rapid HIV testing, which takes no more than 40 minutes, the health provider can provide needed counseling and at this point the patient can be linked into the medical system and provided with the appropriate treatment and resources.
In a webcast hosted by AIDS.gov and the CDC, the participants did acknowledge the challenges of implementing routine testing. The obvious first obstacle is the issue of limited resources. More staff would be needed to provide the testing and the accompanying counseling. There is also the issue of additional funds to supply the tests. Limited resources are even more of a barrier in rural areas. As well, many people who are at high risk for HIV, often do not enter the health care system. For such individuals, testing through outreach programs or community centres might be a better option.
Although there are drawbacks to routine HIV-testing, they are not as impassable as the issue which it solves, namely the stigma around testing itself.
