A Case In Support Of Extensive HIV Testing

The Centers for Disease Control has been recommending systematic HIV Testing of every patient who gets admitted into an emergency room. However, many states still oppose this guideline and support the mandate of "informed consent." Informed consent means that healthcare professionals must explain the purpose of HIV test and get the signature of the patient before going ahead.

HIV Testing and STD testing have always been sensitive issues because of the stigma attached to the sexually transmitted diseases. In order to substantially bring down the increasing number of HIV positive cases added every day, the initiative taken by the Centers for Disease Control is certainly welcome. Yet controversies exist and debates continue whether HIV causes AIDS. Peter H. Duesberg, a professor at the University of Califo
ia, postulated that HIV is harmless and that the uses of certain recreational drugs, especially of poppers among homosexuals, are the markers for AIDS. However, scientists assert that this theory is flawed and has a potential to greatly endanger global health.

The consensus among healthcare professionals today is that HIV does cause AIDS and any theory to the contrary is a dangerous myth. The fact sheet presented by NIAID clearly states that human immunodeficiency virus causes AIDS in which the immune system of a person is seriously compromised.

To summarize the considered conviction among all medical professionals:

* AIDS is a worldwide epidemic.
* AIDS does not occur without the prevalence of HIV.
* HIV infection is the only predictor of who will develop AIDS, a fact that strongly supports widespread HIV testing among general populace.
* To contain this epidemic, in concurrence with HIV Testing, modern antiretroviral treatment is highly beneficial and essential.

AIDS is a serious condition. Nearly half of the people diagnosed with HIV develop AIDS-defining conditions within ten years. An effective drug treatment to combat this disease has now become essential and so has HIV Testing.