VIOLATION OF LAW IN HIV SCREENING ? Dr.T.V.Rao MD
It is has become a compulsion to test the HIV status even in emergency hours, at the dead end of the night with RTA’s, many surgeons want the patients HIV Status, immediately we as microbiologists compelled to do the rapid screening methods, and it is unfortunate they want the results in few minutes, it just means the treating physicians / surgeons are least bothered about the Universal precautions, even it is unfortunate that the Teaching hospitals majority private, do not follow the standard guidelines on screening, they just want the test to be done, many laboratories receive the requests from paramedical and nursing staff I fought on this matters, the system supports the clinicians and Microbiologists just have to do the tests, without any consent forms and nobody knows who is responsible for the confidentiality, It is fact that when the cases turn to be positive neither informed to be patients or the health authorities.
*Please read to the NACO guidelines for better understanding.
HIV screening/testing can only be undertaken voluntarily after counseling for behavior change, for clinical purposes, for seroprevalence studies, for ensuring safety and for research. There has been and is a lot of debate on routine mandatory testing. Mandatory testing is not cost-effective and is rather counterproductive. Voluntary screening after counseling of identified high risk groups is more effective and productive for behavior change and case management. The safety of healthcare workers does not improve with routine mandatory HIV testing. Instead, the practice of upholding standard work precautions is far more beneficial due to the restrictive window period for HIV testing and the possibility of contracting other blood transmitted infections, like hepatitis B and C. UNAIDS/WHO does not support the mandatory testing of individuals, even when it comes to employment or for providing healthcare facility Informed Consent for HIV Testing, today newly employed staff and doctors in medical colleges too undergo the testing and nobody bothers,
ICTCs require a patient’s informed consent. This policy on consent is important because HIV is not curable, its implications are life threatening, and the stigma attached to HIV is unprecedented. In addition, counselling (a confidential dialogue between a client and a counselor, aimed at enabling the client to cope with stress and make a personal decision related to HIV/AIDS testing) is needed. A physician who performs any invasive procedure on patient can do so only after informed consent, i.e., the patient must have or be given sufficient knowledge about the procedure to make an intelligent decision. The safety of healthcare workers does not improve with routine mandatory HIV testing. Instead, the practice of upholding standard work precautions is far more beneficial due to the restrictive window period for HIV testing and the possibility of contracting other blood transmitted infections, like hepatitis B and C. UNAIDS/WHO does not support the mandatory testing of individuals, even when it comes to employment or for providing healthcare facilities.
*Ref National Guidelines for HIV Testing July 2015
it is unfortunate there is no law to control the system for all the unethical miss conceived practices even in Teaching hospitals and our Medical colleges, which are not better than private laboratories in our country,
Contributed by Dr.T.V.Rao MD
Copyright 2017 © Docplexus
It is has become a compulsion to test the HIV status even in emergency hours, at the dead end of the night with RTA’s, many surgeons want the patients HIV Status, immediately we as microbiologists compelled to do the rapid screening methods, and it is unfortunate they want the results in few minutes, it just means the treating physicians / surgeons are least bothered about the Universal precautions, even it is unfortunate that the Teaching hospitals majority private, do not follow the standard guidelines on screening, they just want the test to be done, many laboratories receive the requests from paramedical and nursing staff I fought on this matters, the system supports the clinicians and Microbiologists just have to do the tests, without any consent forms and nobody knows who is responsible for the confidentiality, It is fact that when the cases turn to be positive neither informed to be patients or the health authorities.
*Please read to the NACO guidelines for better understanding.
HIV screening/testing can only be undertaken voluntarily after counseling for behavior change, for clinical purposes, for seroprevalence studies, for ensuring safety and for research. There has been and is a lot of debate on routine mandatory testing. Mandatory testing is not cost-effective and is rather counterproductive. Voluntary screening after counseling of identified high risk groups is more effective and productive for behavior change and case management. The safety of healthcare workers does not improve with routine mandatory HIV testing. Instead, the practice of upholding standard work precautions is far more beneficial due to the restrictive window period for HIV testing and the possibility of contracting other blood transmitted infections, like hepatitis B and C. UNAIDS/WHO does not support the mandatory testing of individuals, even when it comes to employment or for providing healthcare facility Informed Consent for HIV Testing, today newly employed staff and doctors in medical colleges too undergo the testing and nobody bothers,
ICTCs require a patient’s informed consent. This policy on consent is important because HIV is not curable, its implications are life threatening, and the stigma attached to HIV is unprecedented. In addition, counselling (a confidential dialogue between a client and a counselor, aimed at enabling the client to cope with stress and make a personal decision related to HIV/AIDS testing) is needed. A physician who performs any invasive procedure on patient can do so only after informed consent, i.e., the patient must have or be given sufficient knowledge about the procedure to make an intelligent decision. The safety of healthcare workers does not improve with routine mandatory HIV testing. Instead, the practice of upholding standard work precautions is far more beneficial due to the restrictive window period for HIV testing and the possibility of contracting other blood transmitted infections, like hepatitis B and C. UNAIDS/WHO does not support the mandatory testing of individuals, even when it comes to employment or for providing healthcare facilities.
*Ref National Guidelines for HIV Testing July 2015
it is unfortunate there is no law to control the system for all the unethical miss conceived practices even in Teaching hospitals and our Medical colleges, which are not better than private laboratories in our country,
Contributed by Dr.T.V.Rao MD
Copyright 2017 © Docplexus
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