A police officer in your article ( All in a night’s work, G2, 27 March) states getting HIV or hepatitis from uncapped needles as his biggest fear. Of all the risks police officers face, some highlighted elsewhere in the article, the risk of HIV infection is by far the lowest.
US: Well-meaning bill to repeal Maryland's HIV-specific criminal law may do more harm than good, advocates warn
A Maryland lawmaker and a handful of local advocates have started the course to repeal the state’s HIV-specific criminal law, and if other states’ efforts are any indication, Maryland’s path will likely be a long and winding one. Maryland Del. Shirley Nathan-Pulliam (D-Baltimore County) decided last week to withdraw a short-lived bill that would have repealed a state law that makes it a misdemeanor crime – punishable by a fine of up to $2,500 and/or three years in prison – for a person who has HIV to “knowingly transfer or attempt to transfer” the virus to another person. Nathan-Pulliam said she withdrew the bill after hearing from HIV advocates who feared a straight repeal of the state law might do more harm than good.
As Kenya and Uganda assent to East African Community's Regional AIDS Law, the lack of an HIV criminalisation statute apparently holds back Tanzania and Burundi
Having a common regional approach to the HIV and Aids pandemic is an important step for the East African Community, as the five member states get ready for closer integration. The increased trade and labour migration that comes with closer economic ties will invariably create situations where large numbers of foreign nationals travel or relocate freely in their territories.
Mich. HIV data collection violates intent of statute, says lawmaker who helped create law
LANSING, MICH. – Michigan’s health department is violating the legislative intent of an HIV-related statute – and maybe the law itself – by indefinitely collecting information on people who test for HIV at federally funded clinics, says a former state lawmaker, who helped pass sweeping health reforms in the wake of the AIDS epidemic.
Canadian lawyer, Louise Binder, on the impact of Supreme Court decision on women
Recent court decisions in Canada on HIV non-disclosure are bad science, bad public health policy, and bad medicine for women, says Louise Binder The theme of the 57th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women now underway in New York is gender-based violence.
US: Journalist Todd Heywood discovers that Michigan health department have been secretly collecting HIV testing information for the past decade
Since 2003, the Michigan Department of Community Health has been secretly collecting the names, dates of birth, risk categories, and other demographic information of people submitting for confidential HIV testing at grant-funded locations throughout the state and storing them in a massive database, a months-long investigation by The American Independent has discovered.
HIV PJA Campaign Boosts Awareness and Endorsements of the PJP Consensus Statement on HIV Criminalization
The HIV Prevention Justice Alliance (HIV PJA), a Positive Justice Project organization, ran a successful outreach campaign to increase endorserment of the Positive Justice Project Consensus Statement on HIV Criminalization in the United States. The Consensus Statement now has nearly 500 individual and organizational endorsements.
hivandhepatitis.com – President's HIV/AIDS Council Responds to Unjust HIV Criminalization Laws | HIV Policy & Advocacy
The Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) passed a resolution this month stating that punishments imposed for HIV non-disclosure or exposureareout of proportion to actual harm inflicted, and that HIV criminalization is bad public health policy that fuels the epidemic.
Greek HIV case – Interview with Zoe Mavroudi from Radiobubble
We’re working to support Radiobubble to produce a documentary about the Greek HIV case – the women who were arrested and imprisoned after forced HIV tests. Zoe Mavroudi is directing the documentary. Here Radiobubble interviews her about the progress of the case and the making of the documentary.
US: Interview with Washington State parliamentarian on revising HIV criminal law
A well-meaning law that created stricter penalties for people who knowingly spread HIV to others should be revised to destigmatize those with the illness, says state Rep. Jim Moeller, D-Vancouver. Moeller has introduced a bill to remove references to HIV in the state’s criminal assault laws while also preserving the tough penalties for criminals who intentionally infect another person with a serious disease.