Screening is a vital medical exercise. It helps in identifying victims at higher risks at early stages of the disease making it possible to develop medical intervention measures that can reduce the risk of illness and death. Notwithstanding the fact that screening helps in identifying the level of risks, there are certain implications that make it undesirable. There are medical conditions in which screening is an inevitable exercise. For instance, blood pressure is a non-controversial screening program. Nevertheless, genetic screening for prostate or breast cancer, mandatory HIV screening, or obesity screening are some of the most controversial screening programs. This paper presents and argumentative essay on controversial screening programs.
One of the ethical standpoints against genetic screening stems from issues relating to accuracy, cost, and confidentiality. Arguably, the concern about genetic screening is that the new genomics is a masquerading form of the old eugenics. According to Tong R. (2013), health ethicists argue that the resulting genomics after screening tend to replicate the mistakes the existed before. For instance, in the United States, eugenics programs that existed between 1890 and 1940 remained perpetual in North Carolina up to 1974 (Tong R., 2013). Cases of sterilization of individuals emerged deeming screening a controversial practice that needs ethical considerations.
Mandatory HIV screening, although beneficial, it raises some ethical concerns. First, the confidentiality of the exercise is an issue of ethical concern. Ethicists criticize mandatory HIV screening as a ground for discrimination in hiring and promotion. Disclosing the status of the victims to employers is a matter of ethical concern. Nonetheless, people need to understand that HIV screening has a number of health benefits. Moreover, exposing school going aged children to screening also poses ethical concerns. Some implements and radiations used in screening may have detrimental implications on the growth and development of children. As such, the age of the child is an issue of ethical concern (Stanford Medicine, 2014).
Precisely, this paper concludes that controversial screening programs genetic screening have far ranging implications on health. As such, health practitioners need to be cognizant of the implications.
References
Basaillon M. L. . (2012). Human Rights Consequences of Mandatory HIV Screening Policy of Newcomers to Canada . Health and Human Rights, Vol. 12, No. 2 P. 119-134: www.hhrjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/13//12-Bisaillon.pdf.
Stanford Medicine . (2014, November 22). Child Abuse: Ethics of Child Screening . Retrieved from Stanford School of Medicine : http://childabuse.stanford.edu/screening/ethics.html
Tong R. . (2013). Ethical Concerns About Genetic Testing and Screening. NCMEDICAL Journal , vol. 74, no. 6 p. 522-525: www.ncmedicaljournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2013//74615.pdf.
