HIV and the Law in Australia: A Mapping Review of Contemporary Case Law
This report shows that HIV-related legal matters arise across a spectrum of both public and private law, including anti-discrimination law, wills and estates, and tort law. In this review, 281 relevant records from all Australian jurisdictions were uncovered spanning a wide range of areas of law. Migration law was an area where a significant number of HIV-related cases were identified, demonstrating a clear relationship between HIV status and the determination of visa-related questions before a decision-maker or judge. Although the results reported here indicate that HIV-related legal matters extend well beyond those related to the criminal law, at the same time, the prosecution of people living with HIV for transmission-related offences remains a feature of the criminal law.
Expert affidavit in E.L. case on breastfeeding risk
Affidavit provided to the High Court from Dr Ruth M Bland, a medical expert with extensive expertise in conducting research in the field of HIV transmission, concluding that in her expert opinion in the case of E.L. the risk of HIV transmission to the child after a single exposure of breast milk whilst on ART is "infinitesimally small".
Using Science for Justice: The Implications of the Expert Consensus Statement on Zimbabwe’s HIV Criminalisation Law
The article finds that, if applied by lawyers, prosecutors and courts, the Expert Consensus Statement may alleviate some unjust prosecutions and convictions in guiding courts to assess evidence on HIV transmission, to draw appropriate inferences on mental elements of the offence, to recognise defences on the basis of transmission risk-reducing conduct, and to more appropriately inform the courts’ assessment of the harm of HIV infection in sentencing. The implications of the science reflected in the Expert Consensus Statement may also weigh in favour of a finding by the courts that the offence is unconstitutional if a new constitutional case is made against the offence.
Undetectable = untransmittable — Public health and HIV viral load suppression
UNAIDS factsheet explaining how twenty years of evidence demonstrate that HIV treatment is highly effective in reducing the transmission of HIV. People living with HIV on antiretroviral therapy who have an undetectable level of HIV in their blood have a negligible risk of transmitting HIV sexually.
Treating HIV-infected people with antiretrovirals significantly reduces transmission to partners: Findings result from NIH-funded international study
Describes findings of the HPTN 052 study: that early initiation of antiretroviral therapy reduced rates of sexual transmission of HIV-1 and clinical events, indicating both personal and public health benefits from such therapy.
Systematic Review of HIV Transmission between Heterosexual Serodiscordant Couples where the HIV-Positive Partner Is Fully Suppressed on Antiretroviral Therapy
Meta-analysis suggests minimal risk of sexual HIV transmission for heterosexual serodiscordant couples when the HIV-positive partner has full viral suppression on cART with caveats regarding information on sexual intercourse type, STIs, and condom use.