Dr. Austin O'Carroll:

Targeting the high-risk groups is probably a more effective policy than doing a standard blood test across the population, but when we say "high-risk" we have a low threshold for high risk. GPs are saying that one should lower the barrier for testing for HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C. The high-risk cohort could include teenagers who may be in one's area - there may be a risk that they are engaged in drugs. They are probably not, but one should still have a low threshold for doing the tests. I would not test everybody, but I would create an awareness among GPs to have a low threshold for doing the tests. We do them very frequently now in our practice.