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Public Aids test is unwarranted

Before we get carried away in a debate about whether or not public figures, especially the president and the health department should do public Aids tests, we must remind ourselves what the code of practice, official and common, with regard to HIV-testing is.

Before we get carried away in a debate about whether or not public figures, especially the president and the health department should do public Aids tests, we must remind ourselves what the code of practice, official and common, with regard to HIV-testing is.

I have often wondered why celebrities and public figures put pressure on the rest of us to conduct our tests publicly. While it is important for one to know one's status, testing - which is a personal decision - must not be confused with any individual's communal responsibilities.

When anybody is sick they confront the physical and emotional pain alone despite family and community support. Therefore, the pressure on the president and the health minister to do Aids testing in the public eye is unwarranted and disrespectful to them as sexually moral adults.

Remember, you don't test for Aids for fun. You do it because you feel you may have been compromised. Both will hopefully see this for what it is and act accordingly.

At the same time, I think that by not responding positively to Aids, the president and the health minister brought this preposterous pressure on themselves.

As for deputy health minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge she may very well be guilty of being overzealous.

Joseph Moyo, Mmabatho

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