in support of testing

A recent editorial appeared in Long Island's Newsday, supporting the bill before the state legislature to make HIV testing in New York more accessible. The editorial appears in its entirety here:

Bill would reduce stigma surrounding HIV testing

There's no harm in offering to test every adult for HIV when they're treated at a hospital or clinic. The harm is in not making the attempt. A quarter of the people who are HIV positive don't know they have the virus, and they're the source of the majority of new infections.

To slow the spread of this deadly virus, the State Legislature should make it mandatory for health care workers to offer testing. And it should lower barriers that discourage patients from giving their consent. Under current law, the offer isn't required. When it is made, rigid, pretest counseling is mandated and patients must sign a written consent form before they're tested. The goal should be to reduce the stigma of HIV testing by making it routine.

A bill by Assemb. Annette Robinson (D-Brooklyn) would do that by requiring doctors to offer the test, explain its purpose, how it's done and answer any questions, but then simply note in a patient's chart whether the offer was accepted or rejected. That would advance the critical public health objective here, which is to get people tested.