CDC calls for routine HIV testing
CDC calls for routine HIV testing
By Louis Weisberg Staff writer
Copyright by The Chicago Free Press
AIDS activists opposeanticipated recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to make HIV testing a routine part of physical exams for all Americans ages 13 to 64.
Federal health officials said last week their goal is to expand access to HIV testing dramatically by making it as common as cholesterol screenings. Currently nearly half of new HIV infections are discovered when doctors are trying to diagnose an illness.
An estimated one-quarter of the 1 million Americans infected with the virus don’t know it, and that group is most responsible for spreading the disease, according to CDC officials. They hope making more people aware of their positive status will discourage them from participating in high-risk behavior.
Standardizing HIV testing should also help to reduce the stigma associated with the disease, CDC officials said.
The American Medical Association supports the recommendations, but AIDS groups oppose having people tested for HIV without first giving informed consent, receiving counseling about what the results mean and being linked to healthcare services if they test positive. The proposed guidelines only call for post-testing counseling—and then only for patients who test positive.
“If you don’t even know you’re tested and you’re negative, how do you know how to maintain that negative result?” asked Jim Pickett, of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago. “Testing is only part of the story. Increasing the numbers of people tested is not enough. If people are positive, we want to provide them with support not to pass on HIV and to get into care. High-risk negatives need to understand how important that status is and how to keep it that way.”
Noting that federal AIDS funding is already stretched too thin, Pickett wondered: “What are we going to do if we get a sudden influx of new people with HIV/AIDS? How are we going to care for them?”
Pickett said the CDC’s recommendations overlook the reality of an HIV diagnosis. “There’s nothing casual or routine about it,” he said. “This is not testing for cholesterol. We still have high stigma (surrounding HIV). This is also a civil and human rights issue.”
New York’s Gay Men’s Health Crisis said it supports the goal of increased testing, but would like to see that happen by having patients routinely offered counseling and testing in healthcare settings.
Pickett said AFC would like to see testing made less onerous for healthcare providers by streamlining the counseling process, especially for people who are tested repeatedly.
The CDC recommendations, which are expected to be issued this summer, aren’t legally binding. But they would exert a powerful influence on what doctors do and what health insurance programs cover.
Pickett said the new guidelines would not supersede Illinois state law requiring informed consent and counseling for people seeking HIV testing nor would they apply to community-based healthcare organizations.
By Louis Weisberg Staff writer
Copyright by The Chicago Free Press
AIDS activists opposeanticipated recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to make HIV testing a routine part of physical exams for all Americans ages 13 to 64.
Federal health officials said last week their goal is to expand access to HIV testing dramatically by making it as common as cholesterol screenings. Currently nearly half of new HIV infections are discovered when doctors are trying to diagnose an illness.
An estimated one-quarter of the 1 million Americans infected with the virus don’t know it, and that group is most responsible for spreading the disease, according to CDC officials. They hope making more people aware of their positive status will discourage them from participating in high-risk behavior.
Standardizing HIV testing should also help to reduce the stigma associated with the disease, CDC officials said.
The American Medical Association supports the recommendations, but AIDS groups oppose having people tested for HIV without first giving informed consent, receiving counseling about what the results mean and being linked to healthcare services if they test positive. The proposed guidelines only call for post-testing counseling—and then only for patients who test positive.
“If you don’t even know you’re tested and you’re negative, how do you know how to maintain that negative result?” asked Jim Pickett, of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago. “Testing is only part of the story. Increasing the numbers of people tested is not enough. If people are positive, we want to provide them with support not to pass on HIV and to get into care. High-risk negatives need to understand how important that status is and how to keep it that way.”
Noting that federal AIDS funding is already stretched too thin, Pickett wondered: “What are we going to do if we get a sudden influx of new people with HIV/AIDS? How are we going to care for them?”
Pickett said the CDC’s recommendations overlook the reality of an HIV diagnosis. “There’s nothing casual or routine about it,” he said. “This is not testing for cholesterol. We still have high stigma (surrounding HIV). This is also a civil and human rights issue.”
New York’s Gay Men’s Health Crisis said it supports the goal of increased testing, but would like to see that happen by having patients routinely offered counseling and testing in healthcare settings.
Pickett said AFC would like to see testing made less onerous for healthcare providers by streamlining the counseling process, especially for people who are tested repeatedly.
The CDC recommendations, which are expected to be issued this summer, aren’t legally binding. But they would exert a powerful influence on what doctors do and what health insurance programs cover.
Pickett said the new guidelines would not supersede Illinois state law requiring informed consent and counseling for people seeking HIV testing nor would they apply to community-based healthcare organizations.
posted by Carlos T Mock at 3:57 PM
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