COMPULSORY TESTING FOR HIV AND OTHER

INFECTIOUS DISEASES

Jonah Sievers

I remember the outbreak of hysteria caused by a newly discovered disease called HIV or AIDS, in the late 1980s. The public discussion of the subject was irrational as could be expected. Among various proposals was the suggestion for compulsory testing for HIV for immigrants and high- risk groups. More recently SARS has frightened people and resulted in the screening of body temperatures of travelers arriving at airports, to identify potential carriers.

In some countries compulsory testing for HIV has become a reality, as for example, Cuba which introduced mandatory testing for HIV for all its citizens. In 2006 President Bill Clinton advocated mandatory testing for countries with a high infection rate.' On my recent arrival in the United States, I was required to state that I am not HIV positive; otherwise entrance would have been denied( which is not the case for most countries in the European Union). Elsewhere, opt- out screening has been promoted as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention( Revised Recommendations for HIV Testing of Adults, Adolescents, and Pregnant Women in Health- Care Settings[ September 2006]). ²

The CDC's revised recommendations state explicitly that whereas health care providers should routinely administer tests for HIV, they may not do them against the patient's wishes, nor may they deny treatment.. The rationale for this ruling is the personal autonomy of the individual. The question of autonomy in general and in bioethics in particular continues to be of interest to us and is discussed constantly by liberal halachists. It needs to be seen alongside Judaism's concern with maintaining health, as Maimonides stated:

If the body is healthy[ it is] because of God's dealings, for behold it is impossible to understand or know of God's intention