HEAL London

Have you ever been diagnosed HIV positive at one point, yet later on decided to have another test and found you were diagnosed HIV negative instead? Have you been told that it couldn't happen, or that it is 'extremely rare', or that 'your first positive diagnosis must have been wrong'?

People are led to believe that HIV tests are reliable in that they reliably detect HIV and that there are rarely ever any false positives. And so, even though you may be dutifully getting tested regularly as the doctors want, especially if you are a gay man, AS SOON AS you get one positive diagnosis - testing stops. You may be told there is no point in doing any more because, " That's it: You've got it for life."

HIV test designer Dr Rodney Richards and cell biologist Dr Andrew Maniotis are two of Dr Jonas Moses guests in this special report on public health policy. Debating also is guest Audrey Serrano who recently won $2.5m for incorrect diagnosis as HIV+, and for the pain and distress she suffered as a result for taking unnecessary and debilitating AIDS drugs and having her daughter taken away, from which she is still recovering.

Rodney Richards and Andrew Maniotis reveal a few of the substantial - and shocking - fundamental flaws in testing for HIV and other diseases and their ramifications for both individuals and publich health policy.