Can mandatory HIV testing stop the AIDS epidemic?
Forcing someone to undergo medical testing of any kind is an invasion of privacy and a violation of human rights. This is a fundamental reason why WHO and its member countries have taken a strong position against forced testing for HIV. But what about protecting the health of the public? The following Questions & Answers explain why compulsory HIV testing, far from protecting the public health, can actually endanger it. They have been contributed as the first of an occasional series by Suzanne Cherney, GPA’s communications scientist. Q. Some people say that the reason AIDS continues to spread is that we aren’t aggressive enough about finding out who is infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Shouldn’t we be testing everyone for HIV – if necessary, against their will? A. If a person tests positive for HIV, it means that he or she has HIV infection and, scientists believe, will ultimately develop AIDS – a fatal disease for which there is at present no cure. But this can tak
