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SINGAPORE: Public hospitals will implement opt-out HIV testing by the end of the year, but most Singaporeans said they would not take the test.
Even though it takes just a few minutes to test for HIV, seven out of 10 warded patients at Changi General Hospital refuse to go for the test. The hospital has had an opt-out HIV testing scheme since last December.
To handle HIV testing, the hospital has hired two additional staff. Through the scheme, it has picked out 50 HIV-positive patients out of the 3,000 people who took the test.
T K Udairam, CEO of Changi General Hospital, said: "There are many patients who feel that they are safe because they are not involved in any risky behaviour. There are others who feel that they are too old or too young to have the disease, but really, the risk is for every age group."
In fact, one patient at Changi General Hospital was in his 70s when he was tested positive for HIV. Some had also caught the virus unknowingly from spouses who were engaged in high-risk behaviour.
The punishment for an HIV-infected person who has sex without informing his or her partner or seeking consent has been raised to a fine of up to S$50,000 and/or a jail term of up to ten years.
With early detection, a person with HIV infection in his or her twenties can live for another 40 years with treatment. With late detection, however, the infection becomes more difficult to control. It also correlates with higher infection rates in the population.
A person could have HIV for eight to ten years before the infection manifests, and he or she could have unknowingly passed the virus to his or her sex partners during that time. Hence, doctors believe an opt-out scheme will limit the spread of HIV.
But implementing the scheme has its challenges.
Associate Professor Paul Ananth Tambyah, head, Division of Infectious Disease, National University Hospital, said: "It is a very ambitious scheme because Singapore hospitals are very busy.
"There are numerous logistic challenges that would have to be addressed. But we've heard that the Ministry of Health is actually putting in resources to enable hospitals to hire additional staff."
A total of S$3.8 million will be spent over the next three years to support HIV screening.
- CNA/so
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