Zambia makes HIV testing compulsory

LUSAKA, Aug. 17 — Zambian President Edgar Lungu has launched a
campaign to promote HIV testing with a declaration that HIV testing,
counseling and treatment has now become compulsory in all public health
institutions.

Lungu said Tuesday the development was official government policy and was
in response to the government’s agenda of ending HIV by 2030.Lungu said
that the cabinet during its sitting on Monday approved the move to make HIV
testing compulsory unlike the current situation where testing was
voluntary.”Just the same way we don’t consult you for consent when we are
testing for malaria, we will go ahead and test you for HIV and we will
counsel you and if you are positive, we will commence you on treatment,” he
said.The Zambian leader said contrary to claims by some people that the
decision was against human rights and rights to privacy, the move will go a
long way in protecting life as those who will be found positive will be put
on treatment.

The government, he said, has since launched self-HIV testing kits and that
people should take advantage of the service to know their status.He
particularly called on men to take a keen interest in knowing their HIV
status.While 67 percent of the country’s population knows their HIV status,
the Zambian leader expressed concern that the percentage of men going for
testing was lower than that for women.He said while women undergo HIV
testing each time they went for antenatal clinics, it was not the same for
men and urged stakeholders to find ways of encouraging men as well.The HIV
scourge, he said, has continued to pose one of the biggest threats to the
country’s development, with about 1.2 million people currently living with
the virus.United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator Janet Rogan said more
people needed to know their status in order to ensure sustained fight
against HIV. – XINHUA