USPSTF Wants Routine HIV Screening

As reported in MedPage (February 21, 2013) A proposed recommendation by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force — is likely to remove important barriers that leave about 25% of HIV-positive people unaware they have the virus. In two separate Perspective articles, published online in the New England Journal of Medicine, experts argue that the proposed recommendation has the potential for some far-reaching consequences, including getting more people into care, improving their health, and slowing the rate of transmission of HIV.  Comment: I have great concern that the routine screening for anything usually leads to unnecessary care and cost, and often concern by the population as a whole as well as individual patients as result of false positives.  HIV is still not a common condition except in certain high-risk groups.  Routine testing outside these groups may well cause more harm than good despite the intent of the USPSTF to ensure maximum access of HIV affected individuals to healthcare.  Many clinicians and health policy groups are concerned about the excess adverse results of screening for conditions such as breast cancer, colon cancer and prostate cancer which is certainly more common than HIV in the population as a whole.  This may be the wrong way to go.  It appears that the task force is being influenced by politics rather than good epidemiology
Source: Dr. Buttery's Public Health BLOG - Category: Epidemiologists Authors: Tags: Access Chronic Disease Community Health epidemiology infectious diseases policy Prevention Surveillance Source Type: blogs