Zambia urged to revisit decision on mandatory HIV testing

Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-17 21:19:20|Editor: Zhou Xin
Video PlayerClose

LUSAKA, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Zambian government should revisit its policy pronouncement on mandatory HIV/AIDS testing because it is in conflict with internationally agreed principles, the country's human rights body said on Thursday.

On Tuesday, President Edgar Lungu announced that HIV/AIDS testing will now be mandatory in health facilities as part of government efforts to prevent further loss of life from the disease which has claimed more than one million since the first case was announced in the country in 1984.

But the Human Rights Commission (HRC) said the decision was a violation of human rights and urged the government to revisit the decision.

"The Human Rights Commission wishes to acknowledge the positive efforts the government is making towards achieving zero new HIV infections and zero AIDS related deaths but wishes to caution against violating human rights during the course of implementing that vision," Mudford Mwandenga, the chairperson of the human rights body said in a statement.

According to the human rights body, the government should revisit the policy because it was in conflict with the internationally agreed principles and practices on reducing the spread of HIV and mitigating its impacts.

The human rights body reminded the government to be cognizant of the guidance of the Joint United Nations Program on HIVAIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization (WHO) which state that people being tested for HIV must give informed consent to be tested, adding that coerced testing was never appropriate.

It is therefore regrettable that the government may be formulating a policy that is in breach of international norms in HIV testing and counseling and in multiple violation of human rights such as right to non-discrimination, bodily integrity and the right to be free from violation, he added.

While acknowledging that the decision to introduce mandatory HIV testing may have been well intended, the human rights body said the move could have negative potential of rolling back the fight against the spread of HIV and mitigating the impact.

Meanwhile, the Non-Governmental Organizations' Coordinating Council (NGOCC), an umbrella body of women organizations in the country, also expressed concern over government decision to make HIV testing mandatory.

While acknowledging that Zambia has subscribed to the goal of eliminating HIV/AIDS by 2030 and that HIV/AIDS has been a menace and impediment of the country's development progress, the organization said mandatory HIV testing will infringe on people's rights to privacy which are guaranteed in the country's constitution.

"It is NGOCC's considered view that government should have invested in scaling up counseling and sensitization on voluntary counseling and testing as opposed to compulsory HIV testing," the organization said in a statement.

But the government has maintained that it will not back down on its decision to impose mandatory HIV testing as the decision was backed by evidence.

Minister of Health Chitalu Chilufya said the country's health systems were burdened by HIV cases, with 81 percent of admissions at the University Teaching Hospital, the country's biggest referral hospital, being HIV-related.

He told reporters during a press briefing that the mandatory testing was a responsible decision to fast-track the elimination of HIV.

Zambia is among countries in sub-Saharan Africa grappling with the HIV/AIDS pandemic with about 1.2 million of its population currently living with the HIV virus.

TOP STORIES
EDITOR’S CHOICE
MOST VIEWED
EXPLORE XINHUANET
010020070750000000000000011100001365341021