Dear Sisi,

You raise a very important issue that is often a subject of debate. Can we afford to give people a choice to test for HIV in a country with such high numbers of infected people who could get help once they know their status?

Our current policy on HIV is based on the Human Rights Charter, making testing voluntary and confidential. Therefore, it is against the law to test people compulsorily.

I think an interesting question is why did your sister not test? Was she afraid of the reaction from others? Was she afraid to know? If she had compulsory testing, would she have taken treatment to make sure that the baby is HIV-negative?

I do not have the answers and from your letter it sounds like you don’t either.

There may be some merit in making testing compulsory, but we need to make sure that it will address the real issues and not create new problems.

At the moment, people do not test because of fear of discrimination. Sometimes this fear is real but at other times it is imagined. Another reason is that maybe your sister did not fully understand the benefits of the test and it was not offered to her.

I think we can do a lot to create an environment that allows more people to feel free to test and that they see it as a benefit. And maybe others will still not test. I do not know if making it compulsory will help – perhaps it will, I do not know.

I do not know if someone who is unwilling to test, even after being tested, will take the necessary precautions and treatment. If I was sure that your sister would have accepted her status, taken treatment, had the support she needed, then maybe I can fully support compulsory testing.

These are just my thoughts. I do not know if they answer your question.

Sis Lebo