Testing and screening for HIV and AIDS give rise to ethical, legal, and social issues of the most controversial and delicate kind. In this book, 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 provide an accessible guide to the debates for readers new to them. They pay particular attention to the sensitive nature of the information yielded by a test for the HIV antibody. Together the essays illuminate 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.

• 1: Rebecca Bennett and Charles A. Erin: Introduction


• 2: Gerald Corbitt: HIV Testing and Screening: Current Practicalities and Future Possibilities


• 3: Lorraine Sher: 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/AIDS 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: Søren 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 Counsellors Care for their Patients and Be Advocates of Third-Party Interests?


• 11: Calliope C. S. Farsides: Screening, Testing, and Health Care Professionals


• 12: Margaret Brazier and Mary Lobjoit: Fiduciary Relationship: An Ethical Approach and a Legal Concept


• 13: Søren 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 Häyry: Who Should Know About My HIV Positivity and Why?


• 17: Charles A. Erin: Is There a Right to Remain in Ignorance of HIV Status


• Annexe: AIDS, Ethics, Justice, and European Policy: Summary of Conclusions and Recommendations


• Bibliography


• Index

Rebecca Bennett is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Social Ethics and Policy, University of Manchester; Charles A. Erin is Head of the Centre, Lecturer in Applied Philosophy, and a Fellow of the University's Institute of Medicine, Law, and Bioethics.