HIV :: WHO, UNAIDS’ HIV guidance promoting earlier diagnosis & treatment of HIV infection

The new HIV guidance focuses on provider-initiated HIV testing and counselling – recommended by health care providers in health facilities.

Increased access to HIV testing and counselling is essential to promoting earlier diagnosis of HIV infection, which in turn can maximize the potential benefits of life-extending treatment and care, and allow people with HIV to receive information and tools to prevent HIV transmission to others.

Key WHO/UNAIDS recommendations for provider-initiated HIV testing and counselling in health facilities include:

– All HIV testing must be voluntary, confidential, and undertaken with the patient’s consent.

– Patients have the right to decline the test. They should not be tested for HIV against their will, without their knowledge, without adequate information or without receiving their test results.

– Pre-test information and post-test counselling remain integral components of the HIV testing process.

– Patients should receive support to avoid potential negative consequences of knowing and disclosing their HIV status, such as discrimination or violence.

– Testing must be linked to appropriate HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services.

– Decisions about HIV testing in health facilities should always be guided by what is in the best interests of the individual patient.

– Provider-initiated HIV testing and counselling is not, and should not be construed as, an endorsement of coercive or mandatory HIV testing.

– Implementation of provider-initiated HIV testing and counselling should be undertaken in consultation with key stakeholders, including civil society groups, acknowledging that what works and is ethical will inevitably differ across countries.

– When implementing provider-initiated HIIV testing and counselling, equal efforts must be made to ensure that a supportive social, policy and legal framework is in place to maximize positive outcomes and minimize potential harms to patients.

– A system that monitors and evaluates the implementation and scale-up of provider-initiated testing and counselling should be developed and implemented concurrently.

– As countries work towards universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support, the new guidance on provider-initiated HIV testing and counselling offers an important opportunity to introduce new approaches and improve the standards of HIV testing and counselling in both public and private health facilities. Together with their partners, WHO and UNAIDS will continue to help countries expand access to the full range of HIV testing and counselling services, as well as to other needed health sector interventions against HIV/AIDS.


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