HIV awareness

Although HIV has become a very topical subject matter, it is still difficult to raise awareness about its prevention and its detection. As Florent pointed out during his presentation, a significant number of people have been infected with HIV and just don’t know it.
As most diseases, the earlier it is identified the better chances it has to be cured. But how to reach a significant part of the population when it truly seems impossible to make everyone get blood tests?
Prevention is the key word, but it necessarily is not enough. Some people will still contract the highly destructive virus and infect others.
Florent also stressed an important point: when individuals donate their blood, samples are always tested in order to ensure that they don’t put other people’s life in jeopardy. However, if the test is positive, doctors have no obligation to tell their patients that they contracted the virus, but merely have to mention the fact that they have a highly contagious disease. Therefore if patients don’t literally ask them what the disease is they must not tell them that they are infected with HIV.
Florent therefore asked the following question: In your opinion do doctors have the moral obligation to inform theirs patients about their infection with HIV?
The conventional view is that doctors should not keep information from their patients and should do everything that is in their power to save them.
One may argue against it and claim that individuals should have the right to lead the life they want and if they do not wish to know what ill is slowly killing them, well, it is their problem.
Let me give you three reasons why I do not abide by this second clause:
First of all, no need to remind that AIDS is tremendously deadly. It kills hundreds of thousands of people each year in developing countries in which they have no efficient means to fight the virus.
Since in our developed nations we do have the capacity to cure the disease, patients should quickly overcome their fear to deal with it and come down to earth: the sooner you start fighting against it, the greater your chances become to completely end the combat.
Secondly, it is because of its highly contagious nature that the HIV causes such stunning casualties. Therefore anyone HIV positive must be aware that they can unvoluntarily (the point is not to harass them) endanger others’ health safety. By keeping these information from HIV positive people, we are therefore endangering their own life and those of their potential sexual partners for instance.
Thirdly, getting to know about your disease does not mean you have to go through any cure. It is still up to individuals to decide on their future and to lead the kind of life they want.
Last but not least, it is important that doctors respect their patients’ privacy. In some cases, people have the right to keep their illness for themselves.