Franklin does about-face on motion to criminalize willful transmission of HIV/AIDS

Sep 20, 2011 News

---

 

Opposition MP Everall Franklin of the Guyana Action Party has grudgingly admitted that the Government may have been correct to oppose the motion which sought to have the willful transmission of HIV/AIDS criminalized.
In a letter published by Kaieteur News yesterday Franklin admitted that if the figures released by the Ministry of Health claiming that the amount of infected persons is now less than 1.5 percent of the population then the Ministry’s position “concerning the non-criminalisation of the willful transmission of HIV/AIDS may have been the correct decision”.
His opinion on the matter is of special import since he is the Member of Parliament who tabled the motion to have the willful transmission of HIV/AIDS criminalized.

Last Thursday however Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, Minister of Health laid before the National Assembly a report on the deliberations of the Special Committee tasked with facilitating public discussion on the Criminal Responsibility of Persons living with HIV.
The Minister said on that occasion, “We all agreed that the willful transmission of HIV is unacceptable and is criminal. But we believe that there are general criminal laws that are adequate to address the willful transmission of HIV. While we accepted that the willful transmission of HIV is a problem, we do not believe that the problem can be resolved by the criminalization of HIV transmission.”
Franklin wrote, “Needless to say, I was disappointed that the National Assembly did not pass the motion I presented …”
He went on to note, however, that he was satisfied that the matter had been taken to the select committee stage. But Franklin held fast to his position that those persons who “willfully propagate the HIV/AIDS must be held accountable.”
Minister Ramsammy noted, though, that “the Special Select Committee after deliberations and after hearing the views of individuals and organizations concluded that criminalization of HIV transmission has not been proven to prevent the spread of HIV; it merely encourages individuals not to get tested and increases the stigma and discrimination against those who are positive.
“This in turn can lead to increased spread of HIV from those who do not know their status. The Committee and those citizens and organizations that came forward to make presentations to the Special Select Committee agreed that stigma and  discrimination  have  proven  to  be  the  most  powerful  drivers  of  the  HIV epidemic.”
The Minister in his speech pointed out that Criminal law should only be used in certain kinds of cases and only as a last resort, after public health laws and policies have failed to achieve the desired goals.
If the criminal law is used, it should not be HIV specific and should not be applied to acts that pose no substantial risk of transmission of HIV. Several other issues have to be addressed, as well, such as prior knowledge and consent, and whether or not there was deceit or coercion. Willfulness and intent also have to be proven.
And if proven, the existing laws of Guyana are sufficient to take such cases to justice. Overall, the complexities of criminalizing HIV exposure and transmission far outweigh the benefits.
He went on to say that “the Government of Guyana must abide by international human rights conventions on equal and inalienable rights, including those related to health, education and social protection of all people, including people living with HIV. The Parliament of Guyana must prevent the establishment of HIV-specific criminal laws, laws directly mandating disclosure of HIV status, and other laws which are counterproductive to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support efforts, or which violate the human rights of people living with HIV and other vulnerable groups.”
Minister Ramsammy also said that “additionally, criminalisation may create a false expectation that the law has eliminated any danger from engaging in unprotected sex. Not knowing a partner’s status or assuming that he or she does not have a disease are not sufficient reasons for neglecting to use protection; discussing each other’s status and getting tested are behaviours that will lead to a decline in HIV.
Guyana   needs   to   continue   to   combat   stigma   and   its   often   resulting discrimination, so that people can make healthy, responsible and safe choices about their sexual and reproductive lives.”
Franklin noted in his letter that there needs to be another way to encourage those infected persons to change their behaviour but from his interactions with members of the health fraternity he posited that more needs to be done to dissuade infected individuals from such behaviour.

---

---