Tacheba, Kelebalwe Lekau2020-03-112020-03-112018-07-17Lekau-Tacheba, Kelebalwe (2018) Is mandatory HIV testing in pregnant women in Botswana morally permissible?, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, <http://hdl.handle.net/10539/29119>https://hdl.handle.net/10539/29119A research report submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Masters of Science in Medicine in Bioethics and Health Law, 2018This research assesses the moral permissibility of mandating human immunodeficiency virus testing in pregnant women in Botswana. The aim of the research is to defend the claim that it is morally permissible to mandate HIV testing in pregnant women in Botswana where antiretrovirals (ARVs) are freely available in government health facilities and reasonably accessed. In Botswana, 95% of people are within five kilometre reach of a health facility where they access ARVs (Essex et al., 2016). Currently Botswana uses a routine opt-out HIV testing policy which gives pregnant women the right to refuse an HIV test. The access to ARVs in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV begins with testing. With such a high availability of ARVs and access to treatment and after care, it seems unreasonable for a pregnant woman to opt out of HIV testing. In this report I apply principlism and consequentialist moral theory to argue for a shift from opt-out to mandatory HIV testing of pregnant women in Botswana.Online resource (63 leaves)enHIV- positive persons