AIDS-Related Legislation in the Context of the Third AIDS Pandemic

Regulations No. 6 or 8 March 1983 of the National Board of Health and Welfare concerning notification of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Other countries which adopted legislative or quasi-legislative measures in the same year are Canada (Ontario); Denmark; Federal Republic of Germany; France; Greece; Israel; Italy; New Zealand; and the United States. Selected legislative texts on AIDS have been reproduced in World Health Organization, Legislative Responses to AIDS (Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1989). For a comparative survey of AIDS-related legislation, see Jayasuriya D.C. , AIDS: Public Health and Legal Dimensions (Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1988). As for AIDS-related laws in national jurisdictions, most researchers have focused on the situation in the United States. See, for instance, Gostin L. and Ziegler A. , “A Review of AIDS-related Legislative and Regulatory Policy in the United States,” Law, Medicine and Health Care, 15(1–2) (1987): 5–16.

Mann J. , Statement at an Informal Briefing on AIDS to the 42nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Oct. 20, 1987 (Unpublished document available from the Global Programme on AIDS, WHO, Geneva).

“European Community adopts further policy statement on AIDS,” International Digest of Health Legislation, 39(4) (1988): 937–938.

For example, The Health Act Amendment Act 1984 (No. 2) of Queensland, Australia; Law No. 7 of 7 April 1986 of Iceland; and, Ordinance No. 742 of 5 September 1985 of Sweden.

For example, Fourth Regulations of 22 December 1987 of the German Democratic Republic. For detailed discussions of the role of communicable disease statutes, see Gostin L. , “The future of communicable disease control: Toward a new concept in public health law,” Milbank Quarterly, 64(supp. 1) (1986): 79–96, and Merritt D.J. , “Communicable Disease and Constitutional Law: Controlling AIDS,” New York Law Review, 61(1986): 301–360.

For example, Federal Law of 16 May 1986 (Serial No. 293) of Austria.

For example, Regulation 490/85 of 3 October 1985 of Ontario, Canada.

Some legal texts contain detailed procedures to protect confidentiality, eg. 1985 Wisconsin Act 73.

King M.B. , “AIDS on the Death Certificate: The final stigma,” British Medical Journal 298 (1989): 735.

The establishment of voluntary testing sites was recommended by the Council of Europe in 1987 (Recommendation R 987) 25).

See further, Gostin L. , “AIDS screening, confidentiality, and the duty to warn,” American Journal of Public Health 77(1987): 361–365.

See further, Sabatier R. , Blaming Others: Prejudice, Race and Worldwide Aids (London: The Panos Institute, 1988).

Rhame F. S. and Maki D. G. , “The Case for Wider Use of Testing for HIV Infection,” New England Journal of Medicine 320(19) (1989): 1250.

The enactment of the regulations turned out to be one of the rare occasions when Soviet officials and the press gave wide publicity to a legislative text in the health field.

Notice No. IE/IA/IC-5280-8.2/7/87 of 19 May 1987 of the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior.

Immigration Regulation Instructions No. 14 of 17 February 1988 and Immigration Regulation Instructions No. 21 of 13 April 1988 issued by Commission on Immigration and Deportation, Department of Justice of the Philippines. The issue of HIV screening of refugees is of particular concern to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. In May 1988 the Deputy High Commissioner issued a memorandum setting out the UNHCR policy on the screening of refugees.

Decree of 25 August 1987 of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet on measures for the prevention of infection by the AIDS virus.

Op.cit. note 15.

The report of the WHO Meeting on Criteria for HIV Screening Programmes (WHO/SPA/GLO/87.2) contains a set of 13 questions to be considered when identifying the population to be screened.

See further, Dickens B.M. , “Legal Rights and Duties in the AIDS Epidemic,” Science, 239 (1988); 580–586; Kirby M.D. , “AIDS Legislation — turning up the heat?,” Australian Law Journal, 60(1986): 324–332; and Dornette W.H.L. (ed.) AIDS and the Law, (New York, John Wiley &Sons, 1987).

Sunday Observer, 19 March 1989.

Cleary P. D. “Compulsory Premarital Screening for the Human Immunodeficiency Syndrome,” Journal of the American Medical Association, 258(13)(1987): 1757–1762.

See further, Einhorn A. , Conference on Hospitals, Healthcare Professionals and AIDS (Boston, 1–2 December 1988), International Digest of Health Legislation, 40(2)(2989): 479–483.

Decree No. 18454-S-J of September 1988.

The AIDS Prevention Law of 23 December 1988.

Decree No. 89-93 of 8 February 1989 establishing a National Council on Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.

Order No. 88-06/MSPP of 11 November 1988.

Several Publications issued by the Intergovernmental Health Policy Project of the George Washington University contain abstracts of the relevant legislation.

Law No. 4077 of 31 December 1988 amending the Law on the prevention of acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

Summerfield D. , “HIV Infection—Discrimination and Criminalisation,” Lancet, ii:(April 29, 1989): 956.