Why Test Athletes?
HIV is transmitted via the exchange of bodily fluids, including blood. One of the main reasons to test athletes for HIV is to guard against the risk of inadvertent transmission of HIV between athletes. Although many fluids, such as sweat and saliva, can't cause infection with HIV, there is always a chance of accidental transmission via blood. If one HIV positive athlete falls or otherwise has a cut on his skin, infected blood will come out, which could potentially enter into a cut or other abrasion of another athlete, causing the second athlete to become infected with HIV.
Confidentiality
One of the primary concerns in HIV testing for athletes is confidentiality. Many athletes are required to be tested for performance enhancing substances because it can give them a competitive advantage. HIV testing, however, is done purely for health reasons, and by law health information carries a high standard of confidentiality. Mandatory HIV testing would not only be an invasion of privacy, but would also carry the risk that unauthorized people would be able to find out an athlete's HIV status.
Considerations
For any athletic organization to create an HIV testing policy, a number of points need to be addressed. The organization would have to determine the mode of testing (blood testing is more accurate but also more invasive than urinalysis) and who would have access to the HIV test results. All athletes would also have to sign a consent form that would allow all designated persons to have access to the HIV test records. A good policy would also need to have penalties in the event that the basic guidelines are broken, including for unauthorized people accessing the information.
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