MANDATORY HIV TESTING HERE TO STAY – PRESIDENT

Sat, 19 Aug 2017 09:40:18 +0000

By Aaron Chiyanzo

CONFIDENTIALITY will still remain part of the ethics for all medical practitioners even with the mandatory testing of HIV/AIDS in all health institutions, so there is no need for panic, says President Edgar Lungu.

President Lungu noted that the recently pronounced mandatory testing of HIV/ AIDS had raised dust among some sections of society.

He however assured that confidentiality will still be observed by all medical practitioners and that results would not be made public.

The President said this at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport before he left for Rwanda, where he is expected to attend the inauguration ceremony of President Paul Kagame.

President Lungu also challenged people who were aggrieved by the Cabinet decision to make HIV/AIDS testing mandatory in all health institutions to go to court if they wanted.

He wondered what was wrong with saving lives that some people should make the Cabinet decision political.

President Lungu explained that a lot of lives would be saved once the virus was detected early and those who are already beyond given the necessary help or treatment.

“People should not be scared because they will live longer, confidentiality will still remain part of the ethics of all medical practitioners so there is no need for panic.

Me, I use the simplest language and I said, we will check for HIV/AIDS, we will counsel you whether you are negative or positive, then we will treat if we warrant you to. But people are saying we will go to court, go to court if you want,” he said.

President Lungu emphasized that it was his duty as President to ensure that citizens were healthy and lived longer lives.

He reiterated that there was no dictatorship about saving people’s lives and that the government would do whatever was possible to ensure a healthy nation.