Studies on HIV are fast accumulating throughout the years. Scientific studies have demonstrated the destructive nature of HIV in the human population. There has also been emerging studies on the retrovirus which illustrate the risks of acquiring HIV in humans when they are in close contact with non-human primates such as chimpanzees (LeBretton et al., 2007). Some studies in the field of psychology relate HIV to social stigma among humans who have acquired such disease (Logie et al., 2011). Scientists noted how the HIV pathogen can be acquired and how it affects the human physiology. Having such essential information on how HIV affects the human population, it is only imperative that HIV testing must be conducted. However, access to information in rural areas of Africa for instance can be such a huge challenge (LeBretton et al., 2007).
Based on LeBretton et al. (2007) results, 89.0% of individuals who are infected with HIV-1 lived in major cities or another country. Almost eighty percent of HIV-1-positive individuals butcher wild animals that are carriers of the HIV-1 virus, while 26.2% hunts wild animals, 12.6% keeps wild animals as pets and 95.8% eats wild animals. Their results suggested that there is indeed a great potential for successful transmission of HIV from wild animals to humans.
Infected population that is also untested can be a serious threat to public health because of the fact that the HIV virus is epidemic. In cases of migration, a population infected with HIV for instance can afflict their condition to another population in a country that does not exhibit the disease and this can lead to outbreaks. Thus, it is very essential that universal HIV testing must be imposed.
In HIV testing, the test does not guarantee that the results are 100% accurate. However, it is for the benefit of the common good that each member of the community is aware of their own health condition and so is the public. Universal HIV testing could give public institutions essential statistical data that would help them manage the growing problem on HIV infection. The figures from universal tests could serve as a guide to decision making among leaders of public health institutions to minimize future outbreaks and strengthen their information education campaign within the community.
References
LeBreton, M.,Yang, O., Tamoufe, U., Mpoudi-Ngole, E., Torimiro, J.N., Djoko, C.F., Carr, J.K., Prosser, A.T., Rimoin, A.W., Birx, D. L., Burke, D.S. and Wolfe, N.D. (2007). Exposure to Wild Primates among HIV-infected Persons. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 13(10): 1579-1582.
Logie C.H., James, L., Tharao, W., and Loutfy, M.R. (2011). HIV, Gender, Race, Sexual Orientation, and Sex Work: A Qualitative Study of Intersectional Stigma Experienced by HIV-Positive Women in Ontario, Canada. PLoS Med, 8(11): e1001124. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001124
