I listened to this discussion last night, on BBC radio. What are your views? ... Would you consider an over-the-counter HIV test? Experts at the Blood Products Advisory Committee in the USA have voted 17-0 in support of the test, suggesting it would benefit people who are HIV-positive and improve access to healthcare and social services.
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Hey Sanyu, this is an interesting one. I am not for this home based testing kit. This is a clear case of not tackling the root cause of an issue. The home based kit is also dubbed Free Anonymous Simple Test. HIV/AIDS requires everything but anonymity. What the public health and medical field need to work towards is ridding the society of stigma. It clearly still permeates our society. Primary care in the case of HIV/AIDS involves social support. The voluntary based testing in Kenya for instance includes counseling, there is a reason the program was designed that way, and the reason is firmly grounded in the principles of primary care. The trouble with stigma is that it makes people living with HIV/AIDS subjects of admonishment.
ReplyDeleteAnother issue is we cannot be certain of one's immediate reaction after a positive test. Did they consider one could turn suicidal. To many, the lack of knowledge means HIV is the end of life, and this is where counseling intervenes. It opens ones eyes to the options and goes a sep further to promote healthy lifestyle choices like proper nutrition, exercise and safe sexual practices. How are they ensuring individuals who test themselves at home are getting access to this important aspect of HIV/AIDS therapy.
Home testing in HIV/AIDS is not the way to go. We have to get down to dealing with the true cause of things if we are to make any progress in dealing with todays myriad health issues.