The ethical and legal considerations raised by the AIDS pandemic

ABSTRACT

As the AIDS pandemic reaches the stage of maturity, in the sense of the highest rate of conversion from HIV positive status to full blown AIDS since the identification of the disease in the early eighties, a host of legal and ethical issues have been thrown into stark relief. The society must now attempt to grapple with the twin goals of caring for the sick and controlling the spread of the disease on the one hand, whilst on the other hand, grappling with the myriad issues pertaining to the rights and obligations of persons with HIV disease and those having contact with such persons. In respect of testing for HIV these concerns centre around the duty of health care personnel to obtain the consent of persons with HIV disease, but the consent must be informed and given in circumstances where the person is counselled as to the implications of an HIV status. In certain circumstances health care personnel have been held by our legal system to whom they know are having unsuspecting sexual contact with the person with HIV disease. (AU)