Now Doctors Ok universal HIV testing

1. Start prosecuting people who are wilfully infecting others…………..

   • It’s a no brainer….Universal HIV testing counseling and treatment is the way to go. Doctors must ensure all clients are tested without exception and that seeking medical care should be enough consent to test. So many lives will be saved by this bold move by President Edgar Chagwa Lungu

   • “ZMA President Dr.Chansa Abidan said in a statement that credible research showed that it is possible to end HIV within a generation if the HTCT policy was adopted and implemented”……..can you tell us where this was done and provide figures rather than just saying research this and that. You have not even come up with a system of ensuring that there’s is no wastage of the kits. How are you going to ensure that people who’ve tested are not tested over and over again? This will just fuel corruption in the health sector for those who don’t want to know there status.

2. Between patent and medical personnel, it is more acceptable to put medical personnel on forced HIV testing and not the patient. The idea of forced testing sounds impressive but it falls short of ethical standards. Individual preferences are inconsequential and private. It is betrayal of patient trust in medical personnel for the same medical personnel to start forced testing. Forced testing, forced experimental participation, forced sterilization: who knows what will follow? It is prudent to focus on completing the health infrastructure project than attacking ethical foundations of healthcare provision. Improving cleanliness in health facilities is not controversial; improving salaries is not controversial; improving service delivery is not controversial; improving procurement systems is…

   • Let us not talk about ethics as the topic ethics is a Pandora’s box, anything and everything in world is unethical. If I meet you on the street and say “how are you” that is also unethical, as it is none of my business to know your state of health, it means I am prying into your private life.

   • Is it ethical for people to infect others because they don’t know their status? Should you allow individual preferences to put the lives of others at risk? Let’s be responsible and ensure everyone knows their status without fail. Too many people have died and many more are dying everyday. The President must be fully supported

   • First things first. There is no need to include presidents in a policy debate. How could you do that? It is wrong to involve others in logical arguments. Now, your answers. Item No.1: Infecting humans or animals and plants is cruel and unlawful. Therefore, infecting humans or animals and plants is unethical. Item No. 2: The individual is free to live dangerously (such as cigarette smoking) as long as that individual does not harm other. The argument here is that one man’s food is another man’s poison. The prohibition of public smoking can be considered ethical but prohibition of smoking is unethical. Item No. 3: The death statistics include other diseases, such as malaria. It is necessary to remain focused on the issue of prevention and treatment. However, research into vaccines and…

3. All of you! the way you ague sound good and interesting, but you see the moment Kampamba Mulenga was interviewed over this issue and her way of debating really puts me off over the issue. if the cabinet meeting had people like her when they made a decision??? muuuh one might not know if they exhausted the issue.

4. The is no cure for HIV AIDS just treatment. Contrary to popular african opinion even tne whites still contractvznd pass on HIV AIDS its a damn disease that has had billions of dollats spent on it but with no success. For a doctor to say it can be ended in a generation questions his credences. HIV has been in the world r over 50 years so why hasnt it ended in a generation. Simply because pipp engage in unprotected sex. Men your wife and girlfriends are your responsibilty to protect frommthis scourge.

5. I do not know why government cannot learn from countries which have achieved success in HIV management. A case in point is Thailand which was ravaged by HIV especially with the high prostitution there. The last King insisted on prevention to the extent of police inspecting and prosecuting brothels and prostitutes not found complying with safe sex. The prevalence dropped from around 15% to around 3% currently. Testing and treatment will prolong life but I do not see how it will reduce the prevalence. Prevention is the only remedy to eradicating HIV. It is the prevention strategy which needs to be revisited.

6. This country, now they want a door to door approach. 15 million pipo every 6 weeks equals 130 million test kits every year. Information minjster has been reported as saying that it would be better to find HIV test kits in toilets than condoms.. imagine testing in a toilet. Has this minister got any communicstion skillls… who pays for all these tests. Asure ZMA needs some funding so a pro government announcement is timely

7. universal, mandatory, routine (whatever you call it) testing is no guarantee that the infected will not infect the uninfected. Once tested, are the HIV+ going to be made to wear a t-shirt, scarf, id card or hand band that says HIV+? Just continue preaching abstinence, being faithful and condom use

   • Once tested positive, you are put on treatment and risk of transmitting is reduced. PF have just failed on messaging because they believe in Chipantepante

8. Why aren’t African countries more ambitious? Our cabinet should say we will invest so much Kwacha to find an aids cure but they don’t. Why? Because they only want to pass on to us what has been demanded from them by the west and its industries. The ARV manufacturing companies want business from HIV infested Africans so they tell their governments to work on the wrong priorities

9. These Doctors have come to the ford a bit late when Antonio Mwanza has been all over radio stations with a political mission of misleading the masses with impunity,not respecting professionalism and taking into consideration the health of the citizens.I think Doctors are better placed,though i expected more from them especially educating people on the benefits and the dangers of letting viral load increase in your body.The policy is ok but let GOVT explain it properly to the Citizens

10. Wrong priorities such as compulsory testing which western industry will greatly benefit from. Africa would benefit better from a cure so lungu should put money and policy on finding a cure

11. ” Now Doctors Ok universal HIV testing ”

    Are the patients ok with blanket HIV testing? Anyway, no one is addressing WHY they want everyone to get tested for HIV, or what the standard testing procedure is.

    This is all based on the fraud of using 71% of women from PMTCT in a survey, and then presuming the results are reflective nationwide. That’s fraud. There is no need to test everyone. What there is a need for, is to get the data correct first, before policy is based on it.

12. The best way is to start contaminating utility water reservoirs with the HIV virus and then wait to see how many people will be infected. Then you can start mandatory testing because it will be like a plague, not the way it is now.

13. Very ignorant doctors these are, I must say. You would expect that they would be the first to be enlightened about WHO and UNAIDS guidelines and civil society organisation research studies that have informed about the folly of mandatory testing. It does not reduce prevalence – it increases stigma, makes people go ‘underground’, afraid to access health services and is a clear breach of privacy and rights. Its the strategies that encourage voluntary testing and assurances on linkage to treatment and care that should be strengthened. ‘Witch hunting’ has only ever escalated problems rather than solved them.

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