Scaling up HIV testing: human rights and hidden costs

The calls for provider-initiated routine HIV testing are growing more intense. In this article, Joanne Csete and Richard Elliott discuss the human rights and ethical issues raised by the routine testing approach. Some points in this paper are inspired by an international expert meeting on HIV testing and human rights convened by the Center for Health and Gender Equity, Gay Men's Health Crisis and the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network in Montreal in October 2005. The meeting was attended by academic experts, UN officials, activists and people living with HIV/AIDS from around the world.