Did you know?
There is a man in Canada being tried for manslaughter because he didn’t tell his many sexual partners that he was HIV positive (Mark Cichocki, 2009). With all of this occurring 2 of the women that he infected have died from AIDS complications and, because of these issues the Royal Canadian Mounted Police felt the need to post a picture and name of the man to the public. RCMP feels that it is a public safety issue (Mark Cichocki, 2009). The debate that is going on is whether or not it was okay for the police to disclose who the man is. This is something that is HUGE! What is going to happen for future cases like this? Are there exceptions to confidentiality? With reading this article it raised a lot of questions for me. I feel that there shouldn’t be exceptions to confidentiality. These police disclosed information before the case was closed and a verdict was reached. I totally understand that there are other people involved and they need to be protected, but shouldn’t other people be held responsible? Don’t they need to be the ones that protect themselves and demand protection during intercourse? I think they should. There a bunch of pros and cons to disclosing this man’s HIV status, but until he was found guilty of these charges, I don’t believe an exception should have been made to confidentiality.
Week 3 :)
So it is week 3 of my adventure of my HIV class at UCF and I’m still discovering new things every day. Just 10 minutes ago I finished an assignment that required me to think of what I would do in the event that I needed a blood transfusion with possible HIV positive blood. This situation required that I be on a vacation and that nearest United States blood was 20 hours away and my life depended on getting this blood so I could have surgery due to internal injuries from a dramatic fall. After reading the assignment my mind became a whirlwind of thoughts. Do I die from blood loss and complications or do I chance it and live another day? Ultimately I chose to have the transfusion and possibly contract HIV. My main reason for deciding to have the transfusion was so that I could see my family again and that the medicine in the United States is strong enough to where I could have a chance at a somewhat decent life with HIV.
At this stage in the class I am feeling motivated to make a difference with HIV. I feel like I should be volunteering my time with issues dealing with HIV. I’m going to try and look further into this, if anyone has any ideas I would love to hear about them!!
Today I will start reading At Risk, a book for this course regarding a younger girl that has HIV. I am extremely excited to read this book and I think that it will further motivate me on sharing knowledge and volunteering for awareness with HIV. I’m hoping that this motivation doesn’t fall away, I like it and I’m excited to see where it will take me. :)
Works Cited
Mark Cichocki, R. (2009, May 1). Public Disclosure of HIV Status: Public Safety or Breach of Confidentiality? Retrieved Feburary 10, 2010, from About.com: http://aids.about.com/od/legalissues/i/disclosure.htm
Totem, T. (2008, June 16). benettontalk. Retrieved Feburary 10, 2010, from http://www.benettontalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/know-your-hiv-status_jonrawlinson.jpg
Hi Kathleen,
ReplyDeleteI just saw'll that you are reading the same book I am, so I just wanted warn you to not read all of my blog so I do not ruin the book for you. Also I think withholding information on any condition that can be transmitted through sexual contact should be a serious crime. It is a shame that some people go around infecting other innocent victims for their pleasure.
I know this may keep a bit harsh, but I belive that the man in Canada being tried for manslaughter for not telling others of his HIV infection is very deserving. It is just so shameful to do harm unto others with no obvious remorse.
ReplyDeleteHe is not the first person to be charged with manslaughter for withholding HIV information from sex partners. There are a number of men in prison here in the US for that very thing.
ReplyDeleteI also understand the reason for giving out his name. It might be the only way to get women to come in and get tested. Oprah did a show on a men here in the US that infected 5 women. They went around talking to the women he was with to tell them to get tested.
There was no excuse for what he did. I also agree with you that women must also take part of the blame because they didn't protect themselves. I know someone who is HIV positive and he believes that everyone should be responsible and if you get it via unprotected sex you can't play the pity me card.