Poll Finds Ignorance on HIV Test

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1993. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Poll Finds Ignorance on HIV Test

United Press International (10/24/93)

Tokyo--Only one in five Japanese adults know that tests cannot determine HIV status until at least three months have passed since having sex, according to a poll by the National Federation of Health Insurance Societies. The survey questioned 2,000 randomly selected individuals, and found that 41 percent of the respondents believe they should take an HIV test soon after having unprotected sex. Another 21 percent said that taking an HIV test two weeks after intercourse could produce precise diagnosis about infection. Lack of knowledge about the test could, however, falsely convince a person testing negative before the three-month waiting period has ended that he or she has not been infected, said a federation official. That faulty assumption, the official continued, could have "horrible" consequences for the individual's sex partners. Only 19 percent of respondents said that HIV tests conducted after three months following sex could produce accurate diagnoses.

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