The HIV Epidemic remains one of the acute problems in Canada, and people who suffer from this disease are still treated with apprehension and prejudice. At the same time, you can take a test and find out your status for free in many state institutions, and even if the result turns out to be positive, with proper treatment, you can live a long life and give birth to a healthy child. However, many of us prefer not to think about the problem or about prevention, believing that this cannot affect them.
When HIV Testing Is Mandatory
In accordance with the Federal Law on preventing the spread of a disease Caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV Infection), medical examination is carried out voluntarily. HIV testing is mandatory only for blood, organ and tissue donors, as well as for representatives of certain professions. The use of the hiv test is important in this case.
A person can be tested for HIV before the operation, when visiting the KVD, for women in antenatal clinics during pregnancy. In theory, in any of these situations, the doctor or nurse, before drawing blood, must sign an informed voluntary consent with the client. This consent is called informed voluntary, because it assumes that:
- The person was explained how the testing will take place, the message of the result, and made sure that he understood what it was about;
- The person understood everything and agreed to take an HIV test, no one forced him to do this.
When Is It Worth Getting Voluntary HIV Testing?
According to the Ministry of Health, more than 700 thousand HIV-positive people are officially registered in Canada. This is comparable to the size of the population. Of the trends that experts never tire of talking about: an annual increase in new cases by 10%, an increase in the proportion of women, an increasing spread of sexual (heterosexual) transmission. People over 30 are most affected by HIV.
In today’s situation, testing should be done by anyone who has had unprotected sexual contact with a partner whose HIV status is unknown to him. And, of course, to someone who has ever (even if fifteen years ago and once) tried injecting drugs. The easiest way to get into a situation where you are offered to take an HIV test is pregnant girls. They are offered to be tested three times during pregnancy or someone who is going for a planned or urgent operation. Therefore, if you are a man who has not had surgery for a long time or never, or a non-pregnant girl, take the initiative and take an HIV test.
How to Involve Men in Testing
A difficult task, which is now being considered not only in Canada: how to involve men in testing. The idea of strong men who are not afraid of anything, do not get sick and do not succumb to the blues, but only do what they earn money, greatly contribute to the spread of HIV. Because if you are strong and hard-working, then it seems like there is absolutely no need to monitor your health. For example, a couple in which her husband was diagnosed with HIV infection, which had been asymptomatic for 15 years. This happened only when the immunity completely fell and against this background tuberculosis arose, which was no longer possible to ignore.
