WHO guidelines on HIV testing
Monday, 3 May 2010
The new guidelines issued by the World Health Organisation to expand access to HIV testing mark a paradigm shift in the approach to detection of the viral infection.
The emphasis will now be on making the facility available at all the health centres, not just in certain designated ones, based on the epidemic status of individual countries. The initiative for testing, which has remained with the individual concerned, will henceforth come from the health-care provider.
There has been a compelling need for such a change in approach to tackle the infection, as nearly 80 per cent of people living in low and middle income countries are unaware of their status vis-a-vis HIV infection. This ignorance has been a major handicap in containing the spread of HIV. Early detection plays a crucial role in increasing longevity and reducing the rate of HIV transmission. The availability of testing and counselling at all health centres is likely to make more people come forward and get tested. It must be borne in mind that easy availability of medicines has been instrumental in transforming the outlook on HIV from that of a virtual death sentence to one of a chronic condition. How this knotty issue gets resolved will ultimately determine the success, in the longer term, of initiatives to provide wider access to testing facility and affordable treatment, especially in the developing countries that have a huge disease burden.
Bangladesh is still considered as a low HIV/AIDS prevalent country. However, it is at a critical stage. It is estimated that there are 13,000 HIV-positive people in the country and that HIV prevalence in the adult population is less than 0.01%. National HIV surveillance indicates that the rate of HIV infection among street-based sex workers in central Bangladesh is high compared with sex workers in other parts of South Asia. HIV among drug users, who use injection, is already 4%. The country’s vulnerability is said to be very high.
Gopal Sengupta
Canada, gopalsengupta@aol.com
The emphasis will now be on making the facility available at all the health centres, not just in certain designated ones, based on the epidemic status of individual countries. The initiative for testing, which has remained with the individual concerned, will henceforth come from the health-care provider.
There has been a compelling need for such a change in approach to tackle the infection, as nearly 80 per cent of people living in low and middle income countries are unaware of their status vis-a-vis HIV infection. This ignorance has been a major handicap in containing the spread of HIV. Early detection plays a crucial role in increasing longevity and reducing the rate of HIV transmission. The availability of testing and counselling at all health centres is likely to make more people come forward and get tested. It must be borne in mind that easy availability of medicines has been instrumental in transforming the outlook on HIV from that of a virtual death sentence to one of a chronic condition. How this knotty issue gets resolved will ultimately determine the success, in the longer term, of initiatives to provide wider access to testing facility and affordable treatment, especially in the developing countries that have a huge disease burden.
Bangladesh is still considered as a low HIV/AIDS prevalent country. However, it is at a critical stage. It is estimated that there are 13,000 HIV-positive people in the country and that HIV prevalence in the adult population is less than 0.01%. National HIV surveillance indicates that the rate of HIV infection among street-based sex workers in central Bangladesh is high compared with sex workers in other parts of South Asia. HIV among drug users, who use injection, is already 4%. The country’s vulnerability is said to be very high.
Gopal Sengupta
Canada, gopalsengupta@aol.com