Frequent HIV testing among participants of a routine HIV testing program

Making HIV Testing Routine

In 1996, approximately one quarter of the AIDS prevention budget of the CDC was allocated to HIV testing, predominantly for low-risk populations.1It was their single biggest HIV prevention expenditure. Dr Eric Goosby, then director of the HIV/AIDS Policy Office, argued that this “was not efficient nor effective in picking up HIV-positive people."1 Some dozen years later, the CDC is promulgating...

Routine HIV testing in colposcopy.

We read with interest the article by Briggs et al.1and associated commentary by Bates2 suggesting a widening of HIV testing venues, to include termination of pregnancy services (TOP) and colposcopy services. The Homerton Hospital, East London, UK has been performing opt-out HIV testing in the TOP unit since April 2008 and has an uptake of 60%.3 The HIV prevalence is 0.3%, higher than the genito...

Routine HIV testing: a view from Botswana.

ollowing an announcement in October 2003 by President Festus Mogae, routine testing for HIV (RHT) was introduced in Botswana in January 2004. It was assumed that RHT would reduce the stigma associated with the "exclusivity" of HIV testing, enable earlier testing, allow more timely access to treatment, and ultimately reduce the rate of infection.1-3 Botswana's first year of RHT has shown an incr...

Routine HIV Testing in Acute Care

Routine HIV Testing among Providers of HIV Care in the United States, 2009

In 2006, CDC recommended HIV screening as part of routine medical care for all persons aged 13-64 years. We examined adherence to the recommendations among a sample of HIV care providers in the US to determine if known providers of HIV care are offering routine HIV testing in outpatient settings. Data were from the CDC's Medical Monitoring Project Provider Survey, administered to physicians, nu...