Why Uganda Shouldn't Criminalize HIV/AIDS Transmission

In Uganda, legislators are attempting to criminalize the willful transmission of HIV/AIDS. Seems like a no-brainer, right? Maybe — except that if such a law was passed, fear of potential criminal charges might actually deter people from getting tested for HIV at all.

The law, which the country’s Committee on HIV/AIDS introduced to Parliament, proposes 10-year sentences and fines for people who knowingly transmit the disease — either through rape or by withholding status information. It’s a law that already exists in neighboring countries, like Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia.

At first blush, Uganda’s law seemed like an obvious idea. Why shouldn’t people who knowingly infect another person with an incurable disease get punished?

What's more, the bill also seems to encourage better, more honest dialogue around the subject of HIV/AIDS — by promoting the importance of getting tested and disclosing your status to a potential sexual partner.

But that may be a bit too optimistic of a read.

Given the degree of social stigma associated with people who are HIV-positive, there's little reason to expect that one bill is going to single-handedly make it easier for people to discuss their HIV status. Instead of prompting people to get tested, the law could just as easily discourage them. After all, not knowing your status would be a legitimate defense in a potential criminal trial.

International opinion seems to agree. Following closely on news of the proposed law, the United Nations Development Program announced the creation of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law. The commission will focus on promoting legislation that supports HIV/AIDS interventions, as opposed to that which creates “negative legal environments.” (Including, for example, “laws that inappropriately criminalize HIV transmission or exposure.”)

The Orwellian implications of Uganda's bill are hard to ignore. What happens if the law doesn’t prompt a decline in HIV transmission? Does the country then compel all citizens to get tested and wear their status on their shirtsleeves?

Instead, the time spent debating the bill might be better used creating public service campaigns to encourage responsibility in relationships: to urge people to ask about their partner’s status, and to use condoms.

Hopefully, the result (lower rates of HIV/AIDS transmission) would be the same as that sought by the bill’s proponents. But by encouraging changes in patients' behavior — and not criminalizing them — such a set of policies should also have a greater chance of success.

Photo Credit: ChicagoGeek