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Plan for mandatory HIV test criticised

    JOHANNESBURG
    The proposed introduction of mandatory HIV/AIDS testing in Zambia's hospitals and clinics has been criticised by the Zambia Medical Association (ZMA). The acting director general of the National AIDS Council, Rosemary Musonda, told a parliamentary committee on health earlier this week that the current approach of referring people for voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) was inappropriate. ZMA chairman Peter Mwaba said the proposal was an infringement of individual human rights. "As advocates of good medical practice and medical ethics, we consider the mandatory testing to be a primarily unethical practice," a local newspaper, The Times of Zambia, quoted Mwaba as saying.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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