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Mandatory Testing for HIV Virus

This paper will debate in favor of mandatory testing for the HIV virus (AIDS). Special emphasis will be placed on the effects that mandatory AIDS testing will have on the health care industry and also on the benefits that it will have in terms of preventing further spread of the disease. The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) that causes Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) can be spread through four basic means. These are sexual intercourse, sharing intravenous needles for drug use, passing blood from one person to another, and from pregnant mothers to their unborn children (Tanne, 1987, p. 41). AIDS testing enables a person to know if he or she is infected with the HIV virus. This knowledge helps prevent the spread of AIDS because it makes it possible for people already infected with the disease to avoid sexual relations or the sharing of needles with others.

In spite of the obvious benefits of mandatory AIDS testing, the subject has created a heated controversy among leaders in the federal government. For example, President Reagan's secretary of education, William J. Bennett, once "called for mandatory AIDS testing of hospital patients and couples seeking marriage licenses, as well as prison inmates and people wanting to immigrate" (Monmaney & Wingert, 1987, p. 64). However, the surgeon general, C. Everett Koop, took a stance opposite to that of Bennett, claiming that "mandatory testing would not be a good public-health practice at this time" (Monmaney & Wingert, p 64). In addition, there have been many authorities who have argued against the use of mandatory AIDS testing on the basis that it would be an invasion of privacy, or that it would result in discrimination if the test results were made public (Seligmann & Hager, 1987, p. 22).

Despite these opinions, studies have shown that the American public is strongly in support of mandatory testing for the HIV virus. A recent Gallop Poll showed that a majority o...

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Mandatory Testing for HIV Virus. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 04:20, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1682410.html