XYZ TEST AND MEDICAL INFORMED CONSENT: RIGHT TO PRIVACY AT A DEAD END?

Abstract

The doctrine of informed consent is a cornerstone of medical law and even more so modern medical law. Securing patient autonomy and bodily integrity by requiring that material information be disclosed after obtaining voluntary agreement is pertinent to the essence of medical processes.1 In Nigeria, informed consent is supported by constitutional privacy enjoys statutory backing. Yet, contemporary testing practices, particularly in employment, education, insurance and public health screening, frequently convert consent into a procedural formality. This paper examines the ‘XYZ Test’, a coded nomenclature used in some Nigerian narratives to describe HIV testing without naming it, as a case study of how stigma, institutional incentives, and digitised health administration can distort consent and undermine privacy.2 Through doctrinal and comparative analysis of Nigerian and common law jurisprudence, the paper argues that privacy is not at a dead end but at crossroads. To remain meaningful, privacy must be re-specified as a governance regime of legality, necessity, proportionality, minimisation, confidentiality safeguards and enforceable remedies.