Ethical issues in HIV.
The number of people with HIV/AIDS continues to increase globally. Women, who represent the subgroup with the fastest rate of increase, are usually informed of their serostatus by the obstetrician/gynaecologist. As treatment of infected women raises a number of ethical issues, an understanding of the theoretical background for ethical decision making is requisite to ensure these problems are resolved within a morally appropriate framework. Vigorous debate has arisen from the tensions between the competing goals of HIV testing, third party disclosure, management of the critically ill HIV-infected woman, infertility management in the background of HIV/AIDS, and gender-based violence as cause or result of acquiring HIV infection. Women may be differently empowered economically, socially and culturally. What may be a satisfactory solution in the context of the USA and Europe may be far from ideal in that of the developing world.
Dhai
Amaboo
A
Research Ethics Office, Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, Private Bag 7, Congella 4013, South Africa. dhaiaI@ukzn.ac.za
Noble
Ray
R
D000328:Adult; D003219:Confidentiality; D016358:Contact Tracing; D003906:Developing Countries; D018563:Disease Notification; D018562:Disease Transmission, Infectious; D026690:Ethics, Clinical; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000523:psychology* / Q000635:transmission; D006801:Humans; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000523:psychology; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012737:Sex Factors