Autonomy in HIV testing: a call for a rethink of personal autonomy in the HIV response in sub-Saharan Africa.
Med Health Care Philos
; 23(3): 519-536, 2020 Sep.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-597906
ABSTRACT
The author reviews various conceptions of autonomy to show that humans are actually not autonomous, strictly speaking. He argues for a need to rethink the personal autonomy approaches to HIV testing in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries. HIV/AIDS has remained a leading cause of disease burden in SSA. It is important to bring this disease burden under control, especially given the availability of current effective antiretroviral regimens in low- and middle-income countries. In most SSA countries the ethic or value of personal autonomy or self-determination is promoted as primary in HIV testing decision-making. SSA policymakers have an ontological and moral duty to adopt HIV testing policies that reflect human and medical realities, relationships, local contexts, and respect human rights for both individuals and others who are affected by HIV in society. Without rethinking the value of autonomy in HIV testing decision-making, the article cautions that attainment of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3 and the UNAIDS fast-track strategy that explicitly call to end the epidemic by 2030 will not be feasible for SSA.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
HIV Infections
/
Mass Screening
/
Personal Autonomy
Type of study:
Diagnostic study
/
Observational study
Limits:
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
Africa
Language:
English
Journal:
Med Health Care Philos
Journal subject:
Ethics
Year:
2020
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
S11019-020-09959-y
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