Abstract
Routine testing is a practice whereby medical professionals ask all patients whether
they would like an HIV test, regardless of whether there is anything unique to a given
patient that suggests the presence of HIV. In three respects I aim to offer a fresh
perspective on the debate about whether a developing country with a high rate of HIV
infection morally ought to adopt routine testing. First, I present a neat framework
that organises the moral issues at stake, bringing out the basic principles involved and
exhibiting their logical relationships. Second, appealing to the Kantian principle of
respect for the dignity of persons, I offer a thorough justification for routine testing
when it serves as a gateway to anti-retroviral treatment (ART). Third, I present a
respect-based defence of the controversial and novel thesis that routine testing is
morally justified even if ART is unaffordable or otherwise unavailable.