It's been more than five years since the CDC began recommending universal HIV testing for every patient as part of routine health care, but let me ask you a question... Has your doctor ever asked you if you wanted to be tested for HIV? Mine hasn't. That's true for most of the population. Universal HIV testing may be a great idea, but it can't do any good if no one implements it.
An article in the June issue of the American Journal at Public Health examines some of the difficulties the AIDS Education and Training Centers have had when training physicians to do a better job of screening their patients for HIV. Usefully, they found that cost of testing was a major barrier facing clinics that wanted to test their patients for HIV. However, they also found that some staff members were reluctant to test patients because of how much time it would take to either care for a newly diagnosed patient or link them to other care. That's disturbing, as is the fact that a number of clinics simply didn't think that HIV testing was important or part of their mandate of care.
While it's wonderful that HIV is becoming more treatable, it still puts an incredible burden on those who suffer from it as well as their communities. Regular testing could start to change that - by helping to identify the many HIV positive people who have no idea of their infection and getting them prompt and effective help. We just have to convince doctors that it's important, and possible, for them to get it done.
Source: http://std.about.com/b/2012/05/21/implementing-change.htm
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