Document 2332
 DOCN  M94A2332
 TI    Premarital HIV testing: the case of Mexico.
 DT    9412
 AU    del Rio C; Trevino A; Mellado E; Quintanilla M; Muniz M; CONASIDA
       (National AIDS Council), Mexico D.F., Mexico.
 SO    Int Conf AIDS. 1994 Aug 7-12;10(1):328 (abstract no. PC0243). Unique
       Identifier : AIDSLINE ICA10/94370243
 AB    OBJECTIVE: Over the past three years 7 out of the 32 states in Mexico
       have made HIV testing a part of their mandatory premarital screening
       despite strong recommendations against it from us as well as opposition
       from NGO's. We decided to review the experience in Coahuila, one of the
       7 states in order to evaluate its impact as a public health control in
       AIDS. METHODS: From May of 1992, when testing was made mandatory,
       through December of 1993 all premarital HIV tests done at the 3 major
       cities of Coahuila (Saltillo, Torreon and Monclova) were studied.
       Testing was done using either 2nd generation ELISA or agglutination
       tests. RESULTS: Coahuila, is a border state with the United States. It
       has a population of 2,126,924 and 287 AIDS cases reported through
       December of 1993 (rate = 13.6 per 100,000 inhab). A total of 9,014
       premarital HIV tests were performed with 4 positive results (0.04%).
       Three were confirmed using Western blot and one was a false positive. Of
       those with a positive result, two previously knew that they were
       infected and only one was actually a new finding attributable to HIV
       screening. Thus 1 new HIV infected person was diagnosed out of 9014
       tests done. This person was refused a marital license in Coahuila but
       got married in Nuevo Leon, a contigous state. DISCUSSION AND
       CONCLUSIONS: Previous studies done in Mexico among adult men as well as
       blood donors have found a seroprevalence of 0.03-0.04%, identical to the
       one found through premarital HIV testing in Coahuila. Our data confirm
       that premarital HIV testing is not only violatory of human rights but an
       expensive public health measure useless in the control of the spread of
       HIV as refusal of a license to marry does not prevent sexual activity
       among consenting adults. In a country were AIDS resources are scarce we
       should be careful in their allocation favoring useful prevention
       strategies.
 DE    Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/EPIDEMIOLOGY/*PREVENTION &  CONTROL
       Adult  *AIDS Serodiagnosis/ECONOMICS  Cost-Benefit Analysis
       Cross-Sectional Studies  *Developing Countries  Female  Human  HIV
       Infections/EPIDEMIOLOGY/*PREVENTION & CONTROL  Incidence  Male  *Mass
       Screening/ECONOMICS  Mexico/EPIDEMIOLOGY  *Premarital Examinations
       MEETING ABSTRACT

       SOURCE: National Library of Medicine.  NOTICE: This material may be
       protected by Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.Code).