The discussion’s main idea lies in the necessity to prevent people from being misinformed about their partner’s HIV/AIDS status. According to state law, doctors are not allowed to disclose the patient’s HIV status, leaving this to the patient (“Limits on confidentiality,” 2017). I agree with the discussion’s statement that HIV-positive people have a strong argumentation to stay silent on the subject, as they can be discriminated against after the disclosure.
However, I believe that the key to avoiding the issue of the HIV growing epidemic does not lie in the doctor’s duty to anonymously inform one’s sexual partners. It is the complete modification of public health policy that matters the most in the context. People should receive the proper level of sexual education from an early age without being afraid to speak on the subject. The issue of HIV/AIDS consists of two major drawbacks. The first one concerns stigma and discrimination against people with HIV (CDC, 2019). The reason they do not disclose their status to their partners does not lie in their desire to hurt the partner, as sometimes they are afraid of being abandoned. In my opinion, such a high level of discrimination is caused by people’s incompetence in the matter. Another important issue concerns the growing necessity of safe sex promotion by conveying the idea of self-responsibility. Hence, one of the most significant things healthcare representatives can do on the topic is to make the most they can in order to reshape people’s perception of HIV in society.
References
Allport, B. C., Johnson, S., Aqil, A., Labrique, A. B., Nelson, T., Kc, A., Carabas, Y., & Marcell, A. V. (2018). Promoting father involvement for child and family health. Academic Pediatrics, 18(7), 746-753.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2019). Dealing with stigma and discrimination. Web.
Limits on confidentiality. (2017). Web.
Opondo, C., Redshaw, M., Savage-McGlynn, E., & Quigley, M. A. (2016). Father involvement in early child-rearing and behavioural outcomes in their pre-adolescent children: evidence from the ALSPAC UK birth cohort. BMJ Open, 6(11), e012034. Web.