HIV Testing Centers Procedures
HIV Testing Centers
Before beginning any blood test portion, and even before getting the chance of entering a medical office inside HIV testing centers, all patients are offered a free psychiatric assistance. These are to tell the patient that there is no difference between people that have the virus and the ones that are not infected. The counseling is made as a preparation method to avoid trauma due to a positive result, but also as an acknowledgement procedure.
The shock when having a positive result can lead to severe trauma to any patient, regardless of age or gender. Counseling is not only an important factor for prevention of suicide, depression and other mental conditions caused by the trauma of a positive result; it is also a law concerning the human rights. This right is not so much of a right as it is an obligation for the patients as well as for doctors.
After the counseling therapy is over, the doctor or nurse will take blood samples. The envelope will be opened by the patient at home, in some countries, and in others, the envelope will be opened in the presence of a doctor inside the HIV testing centers.
HIV Testing Centers
The sealed envelope is a way of protecting the privacy of the patient, but privacy is respected throughout the world when it comes to HIV positive persons, as a method to prevent discrimination.
Some testing centers give numbers instead of names to the blood samples. The results are taken from the medical facility by the one who asked the test to be conducted. After receiving the results, in some countries the patient must go through another session of counseling before getting a chance to read his results.
Since the procedure has been imposed around the world, a study upon the mental state of patients who have been through therapy, in comparing to a control group, has not yet been developed.
HIV Testing Centers
One of the reasons is that is that the counseling before/after is not implemented into all countries of the world. Another reason would be the violation of privacy, many people disagreeing with the after counseling therapy, not to mention, opening their results in the presence of a doctor.
There is no certainty to what an HIV infected person can do without this counseling, even if it counts very less. He or she could not be submersed to a treatment, and thus die in 2 years or less, depression could make the body even weaker and cause for the virus to multiply faster, or they might suffer a mental trauma causing them to infect other people.
Although the last circumstance is punishable by law with life sentence, being the equivalent of attempted murder or murder; most of these patients are not sane when they do this. A physiatrist could immediately realize this, and help prevent a lot of damage.
For some people, finding out that their life will now be totally depended on pills, can be considered as a major trauma, which only a doctor can discover. It is thus an obligation of all HIV testing centers to provide good counseling and assistance for every one of the patients that demand such an analysis.