Confidential HIV Testing
There are many people who do not want to get tested for HIV because of social taboos. Others believe that they do not need an HIV test because they are not sexually active. However, every individual should take an HIV test whether he is a male or a female, homosexual or bisexual, sexually active or inactive and married or single. HIV disease can affect anyone having a direct contact with the saliva; discharges and open wounds of a person suffering from some sexually transmitted disease and carrying the germ. Even condoms are not considered to be completely safe. Therefore, testing for HIV becomes essential for healthy living not only for one self but also for preventing the spread of this disease to the community at large.
The testing for HIV
Those who do not visit the doctor regularly for sexual health checkup should at lease be careful if they notice one or more of the symptoms such as massive weight loss, recurring fever, extreme fatigue, usual spots and marks on various body parts, pneumonia, weeklong diarrhea, constant running nose and sore throat, depression and memory loss, among other things. In such a condition, the person should immediately rush to the physician for HIV test. Once the detection is done early, he is usually kept under the treatment of antiviral drugs. Although there is no cure as such but the pain and complexities will be less once proper medications are taken.
However in the whole process, there is but one concern - whether your results would be confidential or people will get to know about it, which may in the long run affect a person's personal life, social life as well as his career.
Confidentiality of the test
The answer is a good healthcare center will definitely maintain the confidentiality of records. Most centers follow either of the two methods for maintaining confidentiality of the test results: these are known as confidential testing and anonymous testing.
In confidential testing, the results of the person who is affected by HIV positive are recorded to the public health authorities, health insurance companies and the healthcare center. This means that these are confidential reports that can be accessed by the above authorities as well as by the employer whenever required. However, as said earlier, due to certain social taboos, many people prefer not to go for this type of testing. There is yet another form of HIV testing known as anonymous testing in which the whole testing method is kept undisclosed to the public health authorities and the employer, including the test results and unless he informs others, it will be a personal matter. Most states in the US have provision for confidential HIV testing and only a few states follow the anonymous testing method.
The home access test is the only approved of home-based testing HIV test in the US and it is up to you to decide its confidentiality. However, it is advisable for you to look for a center that offers HIV testing at a reasonable purchase rate and also guarantee confidentiality.