Letter of the Day | Criminalising HIV transmission dangerous move

THE EDITOR, Sir:

As someone living with HIV, I'm disturbed by the new recommendations of the joint select committee in Parliament for a new offence to be inserted into the act to deal with the case where someone wilfully and knowingly transmitted HIV and other infections to another.

This recommendation undercuts the fundamental public health message that HIV prevention is a shared responsibility and that all should act in such a way to maintain their own health and protect themselves from contracting HIV or other sexually transmitted infections.

The Jamaican Parliament should understand that HIV is no longer a death sentence and PLHIVs (persons living with HIV) are surviving much longer as analysis showed that antiretroviral therapy reduces HIV transmission.

Re-examine recommendations

I'm asking that Jamaica's Parliament re-examine these recommendations stated in respected of the Offences Against the Person Act.

The Criminalisation of HIV Non-disclosure, Exposure and Transmission: Background & Current Landscape document created by UNAIDS in Geneva, Switzerland, reviewed in Feb 2012, shows that this recommendation does have a negative impact on human rights, sexual and reproductive rights and the potential to increase HIV-related stigma.

HIV criminalisation discourages people at risk from getting tested and makes those who are HIV-positive less trustful of public health authorities.

I recommend that this committee do some more assessment and have in-depth and proper dialogues with various stakeholders.

TEVIN GORDON