With AIDS still rampant in poorly-developed third-world countries and not enough awareness about the killer disease spread around, it's no surprise that the World Health Organization (WHO) has ordered routine HIV testing to be performed for health center attendees - unless, of course, said attendees refuse to take the test themselves.

This comes as a direct response to the all-too-real scenario of AIDS carriers unwittingly spreading the virus around - specifically because they never knew they had AIDS in the first place.

This is a welcome change in the battle against the immune system-destroying disease, as testing has always been on a per-request basis - the exact reason why too many opportunities to diagnose the actual infection are missed.

With the WHO turning things around, HIV tests will now be carried out on all patients in a routine fashion, regardless of the reason they came into the health center in the first place and whether or not they have visible symptoms of HIV. This isn't something the patients have no say in, however.

People must be fully informed before the testing can even take place, and they can easily veto the test for whatever reason they may have. Support will also be provided to patients from the very real danger of one's HIV results leaking out to the public, discrimination, and outright violence included.

And it's not just starting out - already the program has made incredible progress on areas such as Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Uganda and Zambia. Canada, Thailand, UK, and the US have also joined in, offering tests in high-risk settings.

It's also to note that the collaborative efforts have been met with significant approval from organizations also combating the dreaded disease. Lisa Power of the UK HIV charity Terrence Higgins Trust is but one of the many supporting the change, saying:

We fully support these recommendations In the UK, this means that sexual health clinics and health services for those at particular risk of HIV should be recommending HIV testing - something which we've been advocating for some time. A third of people with HIV don't know they have it and many of them may never have considered testing. We need this proactive approach to help these people as early as possible.