Re: Are we ready yet, for Health Care Provider Initiated HIV testing

[Guest guest]

Dear FORUM,

/message/7232

It's a good question as a counselling supervisor i want to shear my opinion for

your first question. The doctor is the person to give treatment to the client,

but the personal history of that client is to be shared only with the counsellor

hence there is no need to share with the doctor. Since the doctor is mainly

interested in healing the physical aspect of the illness. In cases where knowing

the client’s history is pertinent to planning the future course of

treatment, then the counsellor should mediate between the doctor and client.

In response to your Second question I would first like to acknowledge the

pertinence of your question. I feel that though this issue is much debated among

counsellor it is difficult to arrive at right are

wrong answer since it caries with it several implication in to the relation to

the client future, livelihood and social status.

Hence I can only suggest that counsellors facing such situations should think

from the client’s perspective and not from the

moralistic point of view.

In a step-by-step manner the counsellor should spend considerable number of

session to make the client understand the pros and

cons of the decision to go ahead with marriage with a HIV negative person.

Disclosing the client’s status without permission can be resorted to in the last

moment if all other measures are failed

R. Raju

Counselling supervisor

Chennai

e-mail: <raj5053@...>