CDC wants to know whether people would take an AIDS test at their local drugstore

[dixiegrrrrl]

(Aside from the fact the test is actually for HIV, and the word AIDS is mis-used, what do you think of the idea?)

ATLANTA — Would you go to a drugstore to get tested for AIDS? Health officials want to know, and they've set up a pilot program to find out.
The $1.2 million program will offer free rapid HIV tests at pharmacies and in-store clinics in 24 cities and rural communities, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Tuesday.

The HIV test is a swab inside the mouth and takes about 20 minutes for a preliminary result. If the test is positive, customers will be referred to a local health department or other health-care providers for a blood test to confirm the results, counseling and treatment.
More:
http://blog.al.com/wire/2012/06/cdc_trying_out_free_rapid_aids.html#incart_river_default

[RKP5637]

1. IMO this is an excellent idea as long as the appropriate controls are

in place, like who the information is reported to, will some areas somehow make lists public, etc., etc., all the weird sh** that sometimes happens. I for one would take the test. IMO a lot of other people would too.

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. I will tell you that I distrust WalGreen.

For very good reasons which are perhaps too long to go into here.

And would worry about confidentiality overall.
Having the test done at the dr office provides (theoretically) dr/patient confidentiality.

OTOH...good to know the test can be done with a swab and the results are so fast.

[sufrommich]

3. Many people can't afford a doctors appointment though.

Unless the government is also willing to cover the cost of an appointment, that leaves a lot of people out who would probably get tested if it were free and easy.

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. Interesting, I don't recall if the test would be free.

I kinda figured if Wal green was involved, the test would cost a small amount.

[RKP5637]

4. I've used CVS just for flu shots and all. I've never used WalGreen here. They

had some pretty nasty pharmacists working there so I switched to CVS years ago and never had a problem.

Yep, confidentially, that's the problem I see in all of this, just where does the information end up at ... I could see it ending up with the local gov. and/or a national database and witch hunts starting, and/or used to politically embarrass people.

Kids being reported on, etc. etc. who need help, not persecution by some as supposedly the "gay" disease, for example.

[SoCalDem]

5. Probably not, BUT

they might be interested in a test that they could mail in from their own home.

[msongs]

7. so will the jesus gang refuse to adminster them, in the loving way of course? nt

[HiPointDem]

8. I wouldn't. Bad enough to do it in the office of a doctor I know; I'd never do it

if a private corp were the sponsor.

Not in a million years.