Mandatory testing of HIV/AIDS would ensure that the state of public health improves. Earlier, there were several oppositions to mandatory testing for HIV/AIDS, as it could violate the civil rights of the women. However, the very facts of the study which demonstrated that the transmission of the disease from the mother to the child could be significantly reduced if Zidovudine was administered during the pregnancy and to the child following birth. The lawmakers felt that as this would definitely help to reduce the incidences of HIV/AIDS, pregnant women could be considered as an exception to the general law of opposing mandatory testing.
Authorization to mandatory testing of HIV/AIDS was actually permitted in the year 1996. The AMA also encouraged mandatory testing of HIV for pregnant women, as an exception. In New York in the year 1997, several hospitals actually began to test the mothers for their HIV status (Rebecca Bennett. 1997). Mandatory testing has several public health advantages, and many people feel that it is utmost required in a time of crisis. Earlier, when small pox was rampant, mandatory vaccination and quarantine helped to control the spread of the disease and even isolate it.
Hence, if mandatory testing could help to control the vertical transmission of the disease from mother to child, then definitely it would be very beneficial for public health. Mandatory testing for HIV/AIDS would be beneficial to the health of both, the mother and the child. HIV/AIDS is a fatal disease, and cause serious abnormality in functioning of the immune system. Newborn babies are particularly susceptible to the effects of HIV/AIDS as their immune systems are already compromised.
It would be unjust to allow them to suffer from the ill-effects of the disease when an apparent solution is available. Newborn babies are susceptible to develop serious forms of pneumonia when they are between 3 to 6 months of age, which could even be fatal (Erin Nicholson. 2002). Ethically, it may be unjust to allow the developing unborn baby (fetus) to suffer as a method of preventing the spread of the disease is currently available (Erin Nicholson. 2002). The fetus should be protected from all hazards. The mother has to take precautions to ensure that she does not harm the health of the fetus.
By imposing mandatory testing for HIV/AIDS, the state authorities are making sure that they are helping the mother to prevent the baby from being negatively affected by her bad health. In this way, the state could be acting as a Good Samaritan (in ensuring mandatory testing of HIV/AIDS is conducted). Testing is primarily required to identify those women who should undergo treatment with Zidovudine. The course of HIV/AIDS does not have any implications on the manner in which HIV/AIDS progresses. However, the risk of the women developing a serious opportunistic infection increases.
These infections can further be associated with premature delivery and miscarriage. Studies have shown that women suffering form AIDS, and having a low CD4 count, would be having severe problems during the gestational period. Many of these women would be requiring medical care and provision of nutrition to ensure the protection of both mother and baby. Zidovudine helps to control the symptoms of HIV/AIDS to certain extent (Erin Nicholson. 2002). The mother’s health status could be improved during the pregnancy stage by administering Zidovudine and allowing her to go through her full pregnancy without any problem.
To accomplish this, it is utmost necessary to determine the maternal HIV status. The Studies of the ACTG 076 clinical Trial were very useful indeed. It demonstrated that the chances of the fetus developing HIV from an infected mother was about 8 % when treatment with the ARV drug Zidovudine was provided. This risk increased three-times, that is to about 25 % when treatment with Zidovudine was not provided (Erin Nicholson. 2002). As the drug could directly help to lower the risk of the child developing HIV/AIDS, it should be considered as a potential treatment for the disease.
The child may not only get infected with HIV from the mother when it is in the uterus, but also during other stages of early life. When the baby us passing through the infected birth canal of the mother, there is a risk that certain abrasions present in the skin or trauma received during the delivery increases the risk of resulting in HIV infection. Besides, studies have shown that the risk of the child developing HIV would be reduced if the delivery is held by Caesarean methods, rather than normal vaginal delivery Erin Nicholson. 2002). Only if the HIV/AIDS status of the mother is known, can such a measure be initiated.
Even after the baby is born, it can face the risk of developing HIV from the infected mother. This is because the virus can be transmitted through the breast milk. However, there are precautions which could be held to reduce the transmission of HIV/AIDS (Erin Nicholson. 2002). The mother can use formula feeds to nurse the child or could heat the breast milk so that the virus counts are reduced. Besides, another woman could nurse the baby in the place of the infected mother. All these precautions are utmost necessary to ensure the health of the baby, and for this reason mandatory testing may be required.
Many children were born to infected mothers when initial data about HIV/AIDS was known to man. After the ACTG 076 trial, in several places testing for HIV/AIDS in pregnant women were imposed. It demonstrated that the risk of developing AIDS in the child reduced by about 43 % (Erin Nicholson. 2002). Although, these figures were not achieved by testing alone, it goes on to show that HIV/AIDS can effectively be prevented by initiated testing. Once a woman’s HIV status is known, could she go in for treatment for the disease to ensure her safety along with that of the child’s.