By Shannon L. Hader, MD, MPH, Senior Deputy Director, HIV/AIDS Administration, DC Department of Health A New Standard of Care that Responds to DC’s “Modern HIV Epidemic”
“I can’t have AIDS – I go to the doctor and get pap smears and blood drawn every year, and they’ve always told me I check out fine.”
“Doctors test everyone for HIV – they’re just not allowed to tell you the results. I know, because a friend of mine who’s a nurse told me.”
I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard those statements, or others like them, when taking care of a hospitalized patient with an opportunistic infection (AIDS) who is also getting their very first HIV diagnosis. And it never gets less upsetting to hear. The belief among people that their health care provider will take care of them, tell them what they need to know (whether they want to hear it or not), keep them on track for health, and know what health threats pertain to them, are not bad expectations. Health care must do its best to deliver on those expectations. |
