there due to high-risk behaviors, and over 82,000 people have died of AIDS there since the start of the epidemic 26 years ago ("Rapid HIV Test Found Highly Effective," 2006). Moreover, "the number of people living with HIV or AIDS has increased dramatically to more than 152,000 today," with an estimated 3.8 per 1,000 living with HIV by the end of 2003 and 4.2 per 1,000 living with it there today ("Rapid HIV Test Found Highly Effective," 2006).
Mandatory AIDS testing offers the possibility of diagnosing AIDS patients earlier in the course of their disease, when steps might be taken to forestall the disease and add more years to their lifespans, as well as improving their quality of life. In addition, it can protect those around them who might otherwise risk the type of contact that could cause these loved ones and acquaintances to be infected with AIDS, as well. Gostin, Curran, and Clark assert that because of the potential of the AIDS virus to cause death, "it is essential that uninfected persons be protected, and that infected persons be identified" (1986, p. 7).
One of the most vocal high-profile advocates of mandatory AIDS testing is former President Bill Clinton, who "has called for mandatory testing for HIV/AIDS in nations that have high infection rates" ("Bill Clinton Backs Mandatory AIDS Testing," 2006). Clinton supports mandatory testing because he views it as "essential to reduce the spread of AIDS," particularly because "determining people's HIV status is the best way to make them change their sexual behavior" ("Bill Clinton Backs Mandatory AIDS Testing," 2006). Clinton stated, "There is no way we are going to reduce the spread of this epidemic without more testing because 90 percent of the people who are HIV positive don't know it," a reference to statistics derived from his Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative designed to supply drugs and testing to impoverished nations, where "more than 90 perc...