HIV and AIDS, Testing, Screening, and Confidentiality: (Issues in Biomedical Ethics)

The series: General Editors: John Harris, University of Manchester; Soren Holm, University of Manchester. Consulting Editor: Ranaan Gillon, Director, Imperial College Health Service, London. North American Consulting Editor: Bonnie Steinbock, Professor of Philosophy, SUNY, Albany. The late twentieth century has witnessed dramatic technological developments in biomedical science and the delivery of health care, and these developments have brought with them important social changes. All too often ethical analysis has lagged behind these changes. The purpose of this series is to provide lively, up-to-date, and authoritative studies for the increasingly large and diverse readership concerned with issues in biomedical ethics--not just health care trainees and professionals, but also social scientists, philosophers, lawyers, social workers, and legislators. The series will feature both single-author and multi-author books, short and accessible enough to be widely read, each of them focused on an issue of outstanding current importance and interest. Philosophers, doctors, and lawyers from several countries already feature among the contributors to the series. It promises to become the leading channel for the best original work in this burgeoning field. This book: Testing and screening for HIV and AIDS give rise to ethical, legal, and social issues of the most controversial and delicate kind. An international team of eighteen doctors, philosophers, and lawyers present a fresh and thorough discussion of these issues; they aim to show the way to practical advances but also to give an accessible guide to the debates for readers new to them. The contributors pay particular attention to the sensitive nature of the information yielded by a test for HIV antibody. They consider such questions as these: Are we under an obligation to disclose our HIV status if known? Can there be a moral justification for the breaching of confidentiality in certain circumstances? Should health care professionals be forced to undergo HIV testing? Is there a right to remain in ignorance of one's HIV status? Consideration of such questions illuminates not only public policy and medical practice in connection with HIV and AIDS, but also broader issues about professional ethics and individual rights in other medical and social contexts. The breadth and depth of the research represented and the lucidity of the arguments put forward make this a key resource for academic researchers and healthcare professionals alike.

Table of Contents:
1: Rebecca Bennett and Charles A. Erin: Introduction 2: Gerald Corbitt: HIV Testing and Screening: Current Practicalities and Future Possibilities 3: Lorraine Sherr: Counselling and HIV Testing: Ethical Dilemmas 4: Catherine Manuel: HIV Screening: Benefits and Harms for the Individual and the Community 5: Edward P. Richards, III: HIV Testing, Screening, and Confidentiality: An American Perspective 6: Dieter Giesen: Compensation and Consent: A Brief Comparative Examination of Liability for HIV-Infected Blood 7: Inez de Beaufort: Individual Responsibility for Health 8: Soren Holm: Is Society Responsible for My Health? 9: Anton Vedder: HIV/AIDS and the Point and Scope of Medical Confidentiality 10: Medard T. Hilhorst: Can Healthy Care Workers Care for Their Patients and Be Advocates of Third-Party Interests? 11: Calliope C. S. Farsides: HIV Infection and the Health Care Worker: The Case for Limited Disclosure 12: Margaret Brazier and Mary Lobjoit: Fiduciary Relationship: An Ethical Approach and a Legal Concept? 13: Soren Holm and Peter Rossel: Ethical Aspects of the Use of 'Sensitive Information' in Health Care Research 14: Tom Sorell and Heather Draper: AIDS and Insurance 15: Rebecca Bennett: Should we Routinely Test Pregnant Women for HIV? 16: Heta Hayry: Who Should Know about My HIV Positivity and Why? 17: Charles A. Erin: Is There a Right to Remain in Ignorance of HIV Status? AnnexeAIDS: Ethics, Justice, and European Policy': Summary of Conclusions and Recommendations Bibliography, Index

About the Author :
Rebecca Bennett is a Lecturer in Bioethics at the University of Manchester. Charles A. Erin is a Senior Lecturer in Applied Philosophy at the Faculty of Law, University of Manchester.

Review :
`a timely and important book ... It would be a valuable reference book for libraries.' Anne Russell, Can J Infect Dis, Vol. 11, No. 6, Nov/Dec 2000 `This fascinating series of essays covering the topics in the subtitle and much more, shows how valuable AIDS has been as a worked example of a series of interdigitating core issues in medical ethics, as it has been in so many areas of clinical medicine, public health and public policy.' Anthony J Pinching, Journal of Medical Ethics `The book succeeds in stimulating the reader to reflect on these difficult issues and I recommend it to all those involved in the care of patients with HIV.' A R Freedman, Journal of the Royal College of Physicians