Testing

The general consensus among those fighting AIDS worldwide is that HIV testing should be carried out voluntarily, with the consent of the individual concerned. This view has been supported by the Indian government and NACO, who have helped to establish hundreds of voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) centres in India. By the end of 2005 there were 873 VCT centres in India, compared to just 62 in 1997. ⁴¹ These centres tested 225,600 people for HIV during 2005. ⁴² In 2007 there was a dramatic scale-up - 4245 testing and counselling centres were in operation by December 2007

Although voluntary testing is officially supported in India, some states have tried to implement policies that would force people to be tested for HIV against their will. In Goa, the state government recently planned to make HIV tests compulsory before marriage, and in Punjab it has been proposed that all people wishing to obtain or retain a driver’s license should be tested for HIV. ⁴⁴ Neither of these plans has come to pass, but they have concerned activists, who argue that HIV testing should never be imposed on people against their wishes.

Unfortunately, cases of people being tested without their consent or knowledge are common in Indian hospitals. In one 2002 study, it was suggested that over 95% of patients listed for surgical procedures are tested against their will, often resulting in their surgery being cancelled. ⁴⁵ Hospital staff and health professionals, much like the rest of the Indian population, are often unaware of the facts about HIV. This leads to unnecessary fears and, in some cases, causes them to stigmatise HIV positive people and discriminate against them, including testing them without consent.