UHS To Change Testing Protocol

Harvard University Health Services will discontinue anonymous HIV/AIDS testing for students, effective August 1.

Plans to eliminate this type of screening have been in the works since the beginning of this academic year, according to UHS Director David S. Rosenthal ’59, who cited underusage—rather than fiscal considerations—as the primary motivation behind the decision.

“Anonymous testing has been great, but every year, fewer and fewer people get the testing,” Rosenthal said, adding that Harvard is one of the last Ivy League schools to continue both testing standards.

Next academic year, the hospital will shift from offering both confidential and anonymous testing to exclusively providing confidential screenings. Students who receive confidential testing have documentation of their HIV/AIDS test incorporated in their medical records, while those who receive anonymous testing do not.

Rosenthal added that UHS outsources counseling services, making available non-Harvard individuals to speak with students who request anonymous testing. He said that, though UHS technically charges $10 for an anonymous screening, the hospital waives the fee.

Confidential tests are always free of charge and do not include counseling for students, he noted.

In response to the policy change, Linda Ellison—who teaches in the department of Women and Gender Studies—is encouraging undergraduates to support anonymous testing at a “test-in” next Wednesday.

In an e-mail that was forwarded to various campus lists last night, Ellison wrote that when Rosenthal was asked by one of her students “what kind of person” should get HIV/AIDS testing, the UHS director responded, “promiscuous” people.

“The students said they felt judged,” Ellison said. “They felt [Rosenthal] was condescending,”

Rosenthal denied making the comment, saying Ellison “misinterpreted” him in what he assumed to be a “private” conversation between her and two students.

He noted to The Crimson that HIV/AIDS is “becoming less of a stigma, so there’s really less and less of a reason for being tested anonymously.”

And though it may not be anonymous, “HIV testing is going to become standard for every single human being,” Rosenthal added.

—Staff writer Ahmed N. Mabruk can be reached at amabruk@fas.harvard.edu

—Staff write Bita M. Assad can be reached at bassad@fas.harvard.edu.