AEGiS-APPJ: HIV Testing Issues: The Context for Public Health Decision Making AIDS & Public Policy JournalImportant note: Information in this article was accurate in 1987. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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HIV Testing Issues: The Context for Public Health Decision Making

AIDS & Public Policy Journal 2, no. 4 (Fall-Winter 1987): 31-34.
Kristine M. Gebbie

Since the introduction of HIV antibody testing in the spring of 1985, there has been continuous debate over the test, first over its reliability, sensitivity, and specificity; and increasingly over its applicability to various population groups or situations. This article reviews portions of that debate from the perspective of one state health official. This is a discussion of some of the reasoning followed in replying to numerous questions, such as "should I have the test?" or "will you make all the people who are . . . be tested?" and the like.
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