Jailing people for exposing others to HIV is not backed by science, say top AIDS researchers
Rather than reducing HIV infection or protecting anyone, the ill-conceived laws probably make the epidemic worse by driving people into hiding, Linda-Gail Bekker says
Amsterdam — HIV/AIDS experts have called for an end to laws that can see HIV-positive people jailed for exposing others to the virus, saying the approach is "unscientific" and worsening the killer epidemic. At least 68 countries have legislation that criminalises HIV "nondisclosure", exposure or transmission, two dozen scientists wrote in a "consensus statement" released at the 22nd International AIDS Conference in Amsterdam, on Wednesday. The document, simultaneously published in the Journal of the International AIDS Society (IAS), was signed by HIV co-discoverer Francoise Barre-Sinoussi and the IAS president, South African Linda-Gail Bekker, among others. "These laws are ineffective and unwarranted," Bekker told journalists in the Dutch capital. "Rather than reducing HIV infection or protecting anyone, these ill-conceived laws most likely make the epidemic worse by driving people … away from the information and services and, indeed, into hiding," she said. The statement is meant t...
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