Proposed GAP/ROAR AIDS motion is counter-productive - National AIDS Committee

Proposed GAP/ROAR AIDS motion is counter-productive – National AIDS Committee

Jul 22, 2010 News

The GAP/ROAR motion to be debated in the National Assembly today is ill-informed, dangerous and ultimately counter-productive, says the National Aids Committee.
Regardless of what motivated this ill-considered Motion it should be roundly rejected for a host of reasons, the Committee added.
“Firstly, the authors appear to be oblivious of the long and difficult worldwide debate over the issue of intentional transmission of HIV which has concluded that legal remedies are complex to fashion, difficult to apply and ultimately counter-productive.
“Michael Kirby, an internationally-recognized Australian jurist remarked at an international conference some years ago, “In addition to HIV, a new virus has been detected that is sweeping the world. It is HIL – Highly Ineffective Laws.”
The Committee is arguing that the proposed Motion would arrive at being ‘counter-productive’ even more rapidly given the demand that patient-physician confidentiality be waived if so invoked by the courts.
Apart from a variety of contract and tort actions, possible HIV persons would be reluctant to reveal their status in these circumstances.
Thirdly, the core of the government’s preventative strategy, namely voluntary
counselling and testing would be devastated. Confidential and accurate information on the numbers of HIV positive persons is an indispensable tool for effective public health
strategies to combat HIV.
The motion also calls for the transmission of HIV to any other person to be an indictable offence once a person knows that he is infected. The Motion does not require intent. If a condom breaks, for example, and transmission occurs, the transmitter would be liable. “This may not be an oversight since the preambular paragraphs of the Motion speak to ‘persons, some knowingly, still infect others’.
“In this respect, the Motion takes Guyana out of the community of nations debating this issue in a respectful and humanitarian way to place it in the few retrograde countries.”
The Aids Committee stated that the authors of the Motion may wish to consult the Guyana National AIDS Policy which contains much more progressive recommendations for dealing with transmission.
After an extensive consultation over amending legislation, the policy settled for a series of provisions around the concept of ‘partner notification’.
“In the first instance all infected persons are encouraged to notify partners and medical personnel are mandated to assist this process where necessary.” Information on the implications of having been exposed to infection is addressed in the context of counselling and guidance.
The difficult situation of how to deal with a person whose behaviour is a threat to the community is also addressed.
These clauses interpret ‘partner’ primarily in the context of a relationship. A first step in a serious debate of transmission issues in Guyana should focus on broadening this concept to include casual, non-systematic sexual activity.
In this context of more casual sexual relationships, the issue of prevention measures being taken by the non-positive partner is clearly the most effective means of preventing transmission.
The central prevention message is that everyone has a responsibility to take precautionary measures when engaging in sexual activity with persons with whom they are not in a stable relationship.
Anyone, whether or not she/he is HIV positive who insists on continuing with unprotected sex, once the partner has expressed unwillingness to do so is already liable to serious penalties under the Sexual Offences Act.

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Proposed GAP/ROAR AIDS motion is counter-productive – National AIDS Committee

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