Compassion not coercion
Dhanda, A.
Health for the Millions 17(4): 24-25
1991
ISSN/ISBN: 0970-8685 PMID: 12284226 Document Number: 315285
In this article, law professor Amita Dhanda argues for the recasting of India's AIDS Prevention Bill of 1989, a coercive piece of legislation that only serves to stigmatize those infected with the disease. The AIDS Prevention Bill subjects member of high-risk groups (prostitutes, drug addicts, and professional blood donors) to compulsory testing and segregation. Not only does this law infringe on human rights and privacy, its high cost and the amount of resources required make it impossible execute. Also, it is difficult to adequately classify the high-risk groups. While prostitutes in red light districts might be singled out, promiscuous behavior elsewhere goes unchecked. Furthermore, the coercive and stigmatizing elements of the bill end up driving AIDS-infected individual underground. Dhanda suggests a recasting of the bill into a noncoercive measure of legal regulation. Currently, informed responsible behavior is the best AIDS preventive strategy. But in order to make it possible for people to act responsibly, human rights need to be recognized. Therefore, the law should acknowledge this, allowing for confidential testing, informed consent, and protection against discrimination. The law can also take the form of regulatory measures such as those used to prevent the adulteration of food and drugs. This regulations should aim at ensuring that blood supplied are not infected and that manufacturers and dealers in blood follow are held liable for unsafe products. Instead of stigmatizing groups of individuals, the law should require the modification of unsafe practices.