Today is National HIV Testing Day

Today is National HIV Testing Day and yesterday Lambda Legal Defense and Educatio Fund released a set of fifteen guiding principles which they believe all HIV testing protocols should follow.

1. People living with undiagnosed HIV infection must be reached and offered
testing.
2. Any HIV testing program must provide the highest standard of care.
3. Everyone offered testing must be educated about HIV and the significance of positive and negative test results.
4. People who test positive for HIV antibodies must be linked to care.
5. Expanded HIV testing must be carefully planned, implemented and monitored.
6. People with HIV/AIDS and other stakeholders must be included in formulating plans for expanded testing.
7. Patients’ human rights and informed consent are consistent with, and not opposed to, the goal of expanded HIV testing.
8. Expanded HIV testing must be tailored to different clinical settings, populations, and patient needs.
9. Clinicians, medical directors and other providers must
receive training and education in delivering high-quality testing programs.
10. Clinicians, medical directors and other providers must receive training and education in making appropriate service referrals and linkages to care.
11. Community-based HIV prevention interventions must be expanded in
tandem with efforts to expand voluntary HIV testing in healthcare settings.
12. Special attention must be paid to the prevention and care needs of at-risk populations.
13. Expanded testing and the provision of care to all existing and new HIV cases require new and adequate funding. .
14. Testing protocols must address insurance issues.
15. Efforts to assist those with undiagnosed and untreated or unmonitored HIV infection must be evaluated.

Unfortunately, many large AIDS service organizations (like the largest such organization in the world, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation) have been supporting dangerously reckless legislation which purports to expand HIV testing but instead opens up the door to coercive and discriminatory HIV testing in the state of California.



MadProfessah hopes that on National HIV Testing Day these organizations can take a deep breath and spend some time thinking about these issues, guided by the principles articulated