HIV testing should be mandated

TIMES INT'L

Dear Editor,
The Annual Scotiabank Regional HIV Testing Week was held recently through its Bright Future Programme, and I am glad that this HIV campaign and awareness emphasis is not diminishing. I think that HIV tests must be mandated at regular intervals and for about as many people as possible.
HIV/ AIDS is still a very serious health issue. Urgent measures should always be undertaken to arrest any bad situation long before it gets out of hand.
I refer readers to a study in Dominica conducted by the U. S. National Institute of Health that tried to untangle the complex relationship among tourism environments, alcohol consumption, and HIV risk.
The research highlighted that the tourism industry in general promotes alcohol consumption, including binge drinking, among both tourists and locals who live and work in tourist environments.
Businesses realise that sex draws clients to consumption locations, even if those locations aren’t officially prostitution sites. Tourists want to meet locals who are potentially available for sexual interactions. This synergy between the sex economy and the alcohol economy is a factor in the spread of HIV. I advocate therefore that Guyana be committed to allowing HIV-prevention measures to be implemented in tourist environments.
In Dominica, some policymakers mentioned the fragility of the tourism industry and the need to safeguard it by downplaying the threat of HIV. So far our tourism sector is doing well, gathering momentum all the time. All we need to do is to make sure that all the good work we have done thus far does not come to nothing.
Yours respectfully,
Janice Hinds

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