BMJ  2006;333:669 (30 September), doi:10.1136/bmj.333.7570.669

News

US agency recommends opportunistic HIV testing

Bob Roehr

Washington, DC

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued new recommendations designed to make voluntary HIV screening, on an opportunistic basis, a routine part of medical care for all patients aged 13 to 64 years.

The changes, published last week, have been discussed for more than three years (BMJ 2006;332: 1169[Free Full Text]).

The objective is to increase early diagnosis among the estimated 250 000 Americans who are HIV positive but are not aware of their infection. The recommendations should reduce the paperwork burden of obtaining special consent to conduct a test for HIV infection.

They apply only to healthcare settings. They do not apply to non-clinical outreach programmes or community centres.

The main recommendations are:

  • All patients should be screened for HIV, regardless of whether they seem to be at risk
  • Patients should be able to voluntarily opt out of screening
  • The need for . . . [Full text of this article]


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