Worldwide Review of Restrictions Placed Upon People With HIV/AIDS
December 1992
in “
Reviews in Medical Virology
”
TLDR The review concluded that restrictions on people with HIV/AIDS often violated their rights without proven effectiveness in stopping the virus, highlighting education as the best control method.
In 1992, D. C. Jayasuriya's review found that over 85 countries had enacted AIDS-related laws, with over 50 imposing travel restrictions, despite the World Health Organization's advice against such measures. The restrictions, which varied in rationale and were often not explicitly stated, included limits on travel, sexual behavior, blood and organ donation, occupation, and other activities. The review pointed out the tension between public health and human rights, noting the lack of quantifiable effectiveness of these restrictions and the criticism of including HIV/AIDS under laws for contagious diseases due to its low risk of transmission in public settings. The document concluded that restrictions often infringed on the rights of individuals with HIV/AIDS without clear evidence of their effectiveness in reducing transmission, and emphasized education and behavior change as the only viable methods to slow the spread of HIV.
