by KARIN DEAR

AN ALARMINGLY HIGH NUMBER of doctors are failing to provide patients being tested for HIV with necessary and possibly life-saving, pre- and post-test counselling.

Speaking to media representatives at a "sensitisation meeting" held at the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation in the Pine recently, community health educator Sade Leon-Slinger expressed serious concern about "the large number of doctors" who offered little or no pre- and post-test counselling to their private patients.

Failure to provide adequate counselling could have a devastating effect on patients, especially if they tested positive for the virus, noted the Ministry of Health worker.

Past attempts to educate Barbadian physicians in proper counselling methods through meetings held with the support of the Barbados Association of Medical Practitioners (BAMP) have also resulted in a poor turnout, Leon-Slinger said.

"We've never had a large enough meeting," she lamented.

Her comments have come as media houses throughout the island are joining forces through the Caribbean Broadcast Media Partnership (CBMP) on HIV in the effort to encourage Barbadians to come out in their numbers on Friday to determine their HIV status through free testing being offered throughout the day at all eight branches of the Bank of Nova Scotia.

Working in collaboration with the CBMP, the Bank of Nova Scotia will provide trained counsellors as well as the necessary privacy areas to ensure people being tested for the virus receive the necessary information.

AIDS has claimed millions of lives around the globe and presents a serious threat to the entire Caribbean.