Achieving Greater Transparency Regarding Molecular HIV Surveillance: A Proposal to Move Beyond the Status Quo

Molecular HIV surveillance is used to in effort to enhance HIV prevention efforts by identifying emerging clusters of rapid HIV transmission. In the United States, it relies upon data from antiretroviral resistance testing done in the context of clinical care. However, information about the public health uses of these data are not always disclosed to patients at the time of testing, which raises ethical concerns. Building upon accumulating data about this practice, a multidisciplinary group argues that there is a need to increase transparency of the practice through active disclosure.