I personally woulnd't use a home test kit, because I thnk if I was facing the possibility of having HIV I would like to have acces to someone to talk to. If you did it at home, it came back positive you could be left with a lot of very scared newly diagnosed people out ther who the system knows nothing about and it may cause more problems that is solves.
The thing to remember about the figures of people living with HIV, is tht people with HIV live a lot loner now. Like you said the rate of new transfers has dropped. Whereas when it first started someone would only live a few years from infection with HIV, to developing AIDS and then death, now you can be infected with HIV and if you take combination therapy and can stand the side effects it could be many many years before you develop AIDS. Someone who was infected 15 years ago is still counted in the figures though. A more accurate success figure would be how many new cases were coming to light, though that does require there to be an understanding of what proportion fof infected people were being tested.
I think if you know you are HIV +, understand the implications, and knowingly have unprotected sex and infect another person without their consent (there is a trend particularly among some gay men to both become infected if one partner in a couple is HIV + so that they can both go through the ordeal together) and especially if it was done so maliciously then it should be a criminal offense. I do't see that as any different to poisoning someon or hitting them over the head with a hammer. It's a premediated form of causing somoen harm. However you have to be very clear about establishing prior knowledge and intent, which would be quite difficult.
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baggyeyes
(no subject)
Date: 2004-08-09 04:06 am (UTC)The thing to remember about the figures of people living with HIV, is tht people with HIV live a lot loner now. Like you said the rate of new transfers has dropped. Whereas when it first started someone would only live a few years from infection with HIV, to developing AIDS and then death, now you can be infected with HIV and if you take combination therapy and can stand the side effects it could be many many years before you develop AIDS. Someone who was infected 15 years ago is still counted in the figures though. A more accurate success figure would be how many new cases were coming to light, though that does require there to be an understanding of what proportion fof infected people were being tested.
I think if you know you are HIV +, understand the implications, and knowingly have unprotected sex and infect another person without their consent (there is a trend particularly among some gay men to both become infected if one partner in a couple is HIV + so that they can both go through the ordeal together) and especially if it was done so maliciously then it should be a criminal offense. I do't see that as any different to poisoning someon or hitting them over the head with a hammer. It's a premediated form of causing somoen harm. However you have to be very clear about establishing prior knowledge and intent, which would be quite difficult.