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Law and the Rights of People With HIV/AIDS

An Annotated Bibliography

July 2007

asia catalyst is partnering with Chinese AIDS activists to establish a legal aid center for people living with HIV/AIDS in China. At their request, we compiled this bibliographyof materials in two areas of importance to the center: discrimination against people living with HIV, and the spread of HIV through blood transmission. As the purpose was to identify international resources that could be helpful to Chinese lawyers and AIDS NGOs, this list does not include many materials about China. It does include books, NGO reports, scholarly and law review articles, medical studies of the impact of discrimination on the AIDS epidemic, legal case studies, as well as fact sheets used by AIDS law NGOs to inform HIV-positive clients about their rights. 

For the convenience of those unfamiliar with Western bibliographies, each category begins with an explanation of how the citation format works. Where we could, we have added some information about the content also.

The bibliography was compiled by Michael Alpert with assistance from Evan Anderson, and was edited by Sara L.M. Davis. We welcome suggestions for additional materials; please send them to catalystasia@gmail.com.

Books

The citations for books are as follows:

Author family name, Author given name. Title of Book. City where book was published: Name of publisher, year of publication.

Many of these books can be ordered directly from the publishers' websites.

Bastos, Christiana. Global Responses to AIDS: Science in Emergency. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press: 1999.

Cohen, Jonathan, with T. Ezer, P. McAdams, and M. Miloff (eds.), Health and Human Rights: A Resource Guide for the Open Society Institute and Soros Foundations Network (475pp., with a preface by Aryeh Neier). New York and Montreal: Open Society Institute and Equitas, 2007. Summary: This six-chapter Resource Guide provides a practical tool for advocates working at the intersection of health and human rights. It includes fact sheets, program descriptions, jurisprudence, case studies, bibliographies, and glossary definitions on six areas of health and human rights: patient care; HIV/AIDS; harm reduction; palliative care; sexual health; and minority health.  It also contains thirteen foundational human rights documents containing health-related provisions.  Prepared by OSI and Equitas staff for a 2007 global OSI meeting on health and human rights, the Guide has broader application for anyone dedicated to the pursuit of health and human rights.  To obtain a copy, please email: lawandhealth@sorosny.org.

Feldman, Eric & Bayer, Ronald. Blood Feuds: AIDS, Blood, and the Politics of Medical Disaster. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. An excellent resource on the issue of blood scandals in the early days of the AIDS epidemic.

Goss, David, and Derek Adam-Smith. Organizing AIDS: Workplace and Organizational Responses to the HIV/AIDS Epidemic. London: Taylor & Francis, 1995. Publisher’s summary: It is estimated that, in the western economies, 90 per cent of those who are HIV positive may be in employment. Organizing AIDS tackles issues of increasing importance to organizations, and deals with the workplace implications of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Drawing on substantial primary research and secondary sources, the authors examine formal and informal employer and employee responses within Britain, Europe and USA. The chapters trace the patterns of organizational responses through the analysis of policy, practice and behaviour, and examine the ways in which these are shaped by interests of power rooted in economic and sexual divisions.

Resnik, Susan. Blood Saga: Hemophilia, AIDS, and the Survival of a Community. Second edition. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California: University of California Press, 1999.

Starr, Douglas. Blood: An Epic History of Medicine and Commerce. New York: Knopf, 1998. Another excellent resource on the subject of blood transmission.

Stein, Theodore J. The Social Welfare of Women and Children With HIV And AIDS: Legal Protections, Policy, and Programs. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.

Titmuss, Richard. The Gift Relationship: From Human Blood to Social Policy. New York: The New Press, 1997.

Webber, David W. AIDS and the Law. Third Edition. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1997. This is an important resource in the U.S. It is a discussion of every aspect of American law that applies to HIV/AIDS. A fourth edition will be out soon. The book is very expensive to order new, but inexpensive used copies can be ordered from www.amazon.com.

Reports

These are reports published by the UN or international NGOs. The listings of reports are as follows:

Name of person or agency that published the report. “Title of the report.” Date when report was published. Available at (website), retrieved (date when we were able to download the report from the website).

Adila Hassim, Mark Heywood and Jonathan Berger. “Health and democracy: a guide to human rights, health law and policy in post apartheid South Africa.” Downloadable resource guide from the AIDS Law Project in South Africa. Available at http://www.alp.org.za/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=351, retrieved June 25, 2007.

Aggleton, Peter, with Richard Parker and Miriam Maluwa. Stigma, Discrimination, and HIV/AIDS in Latin America and the Caribbean. Inter-American Development Bank. Washington, D.C. 2003. Available at http://www.iadb.org/IDBDocs.cfm?docnum=354523, retrieved June 28, 2007.

AIDS Law Project and Strategy & Tactics, “Discrimination and HIV/AIDS.” Research report commissioned by the South African Department of Health. October 2002. Available for download at http://www.alp.org.za/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=260, retrieved June 25, 2007. From the website: “The Department of Health has noted the lack of data around the nature and extent of the discrimination.  In January 2001, the Department commissioned Strategy & Tactics (S&T), in partnership with the AIDS Law Project to conduct baseline research on HIV/AIDS discrimination in South Africa. The objectives were as follows:
*   Profile the nature & extent of discrimination.
*   Examine the impact of discrimination, particularly on health-seeking behaviour.
*   Highlight obstacles to creating a conducive climate for disclosure of HIV-status.
*   Develop a draft strategy to counter discrimination.”

Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network. “Part of the Solution: A Plan of Action for Canada to Reduce HIV/AIDS-Related Stigma and Discrimination.” January 12, 2005. Available at http://www.aidslaw.ca/publications/publicationsdocEN.php?ref=39, retrieved June 29, 2007. From the website: The Legal Network consulted with people from all over Canada to develop "A Plan of Action for Canada to Reduce HIV/AIDS-Related Stigma and Discrimination." We listened to men and women living with HIV/AIDS, people who inject illegal drugs, HIV-positive youth, lesbian/gay/bi/trans people, Aboriginal people and people from other ethno-cultural communities. This booklet summarizes the Plan of Action.

de Bruyn, Theodore. “HIV/AIDS and Discrimination: A Discussion Paper.” Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and Canadian AIDS Society, Montréal, 1998.

El Shazli, Fatough. Legal Framework for HIV/AIDS and Human Rights. Report. June 2005. Available at http://www.harpas.org/reports/REPORTS%20IN%20ENGLISH/Egypt%20Legal%20Review%20Report_edited.doc, retrieved June 28, 2007. This report analyzes Egyptian laws on AIDS and discrimination in the context of international human rights law.

Hamblin, Julie. People Living with HIV: The Law, Ethics, and Discrimination. Issues paper. United Nations Development Programme, HIV and Development Programme, 1998.

Human Rights Watch. (To order reports from Human Rights Watch, e-mail hrwnyc@hrw.org):

Future Forsaken: Abuses Against Children Affected by HIV/AIDS in India. July 2004. Available at http://hrw.org/reports/2004/india0704/, retrieved June 29, 2007.

Hated to Death: Homophobia, Violence, and Jamaica’s HIV/AIDS Epidemic. November 2004. Available at http://hrw.org/reports/2004/jamaica1104/, retrieved June 29, 2007.

Letting Them Fail: Government Neglect and the Right to Education for Children Affected by AIDS. October 2005 17(13), available at http://hrw.org/reports/2005/africa1005/, retrieved June 29, 2007.

Locked Doors: The Human Rights of People Living with HIV/AIDS in China. August 2003. Available at http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/china0803/, retrieved June 29, 2007.

Positively Abandoned: Stigma and Discrimination against HIV-Positive Mothers and their Children in Russia. June 2005. Available at http://hrw.org/reports/2005/russia0605, retrieved June 29, 2007.

Restrictions on AIDS Activists in China. June 2005. Available at http://hrw.org/reports/2005/china0605/, retrieved June 29, 2007.

A Test of Inequality: Discrimination against Women Living with HIV in the Dominican Republic. July 2004. Available at http://hrw.org/reports/2004/dr0704/, retrieved June 29, 2007.

The Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). “Protocol for the identification of discrimination against people living with HIV.” May 2000. Available at data.unaids.org/Publications/IRC-pub01/JC295-Protocol_en.pdf, retrieved June 28, 2007. A questionnaire for the purpose of measuring discrimination in a given population.

Krever Commission, Report of the Commission of Inquiry on the Blood System in Canada. November 26, 1997. Available at http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-
asc/activit/com/krever_e.html, retrieved June 28, 2007. This 1,138-page report was produced by the Canadian government after its investigation of the Canadian HIV/AIDS blood scandal. Many people with HIV/AIDS testified to the public about how they became HIV-positive through blood transfusions. It is probably the most comprehensive such report produced by any country.

Lambda Legal and American Civil Liberties Union. “A Summary of Evidence of the Importance of Specific Written Consent and Pre-test Counseling in HIV Testing.” Available at http://www.lambdalegal.org/our-work/publications/general/summary-of-evidence.html, March 8, 2007, retrieved June 25, 2007.

Open Society Institute and Equitas, Equal Partners: Health and Human Rights 2007 – Workshop Manual (60pp.). New  York and Montreal: Open Society Institute and Equitas, 2007. Abstract: Prepared for a 2007 global OSI meeting on health and human rights, this workshop manual contains four modules designed to build the capacity of public health and legal staff throughout the Soros Foundations Network to collaborate on health and human rights funding and advocacy.  The modules include exercises such as: mapping issues at the intersection of health and human rights; analyzing regional and international health and human rights mechanisms; exploring controversial “hot topics” in health and human rights; and integrating health and human rights programming into foundation strategies.  To obtain a copy, please email: lawandhealth@sorosny.org.

Case studies

This is a small selection of the many published case studies in the field of AIDS law. For more excellent case studies, please see the websites of the AIDS Law Project (www.alp.org.za), Lawyers Collective-HIV/AIDS Unit in India (www.lawyerscollective.org, click on HIV/AIDS Unit and then on “Judgements”) and Lambda Legal (www.lambdalegal.org).

In addition, publications such as the Interrights Bulletin and the HIV/AIDS Law and Policy Review, both available online, often include case studies that might be useful.

Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network. “Case Studies: Human rights-based approaches to HIV/AIDS.” January 31, 2006. Also available in French. Available at http://www.aidslaw.ca/publications/publicationsdocEN.php?ref=528, retrieved June 29, 2007.

-- and the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). Courting Rights: Case Studies in Litigating the Human Rights of People Living With HIV. March 2006. Available at http://data.unaids.org/Publications/IRC-pub07/JC1189-CourtingRights_en.pdf, retrieved June 28, 2007. An important resource. This is a book-length collection of case studies and analyses on AIDS law issues from several different countries in Africa, Asia, and the Americas.

Jennings, Ron. “Your Victory is Our Victory: The Case of ‘A’ vs. South African Airways, A Guide To Pre–Employment HIV Testing, Business Best Practices and the Rights of South Africans with HIV.” AIDS Law Project, Centre for Applied Legal Studies, University of the Witwatersrand. Available at http://alp.org.za.dedi20a.your-server.co.za/images/upload/20020529_newpage.pdf, October 2000, retrieved June 25, 2007. This is a clear and accessible report that gives a detailed account of the legal strategy pursued in the case, discusses the larger principles at stake, and makes policy recommendations.

Lambda Legal. “Matter of Matthew Cusick and Cirque du Soleil.” Available at http://www.lambdalegal.org/our-work/in-court/cases/matter-of-matthew-cusick-and.html, April 22, 2004, retrieved June 25, 2007. From the website: “Groundbreaking case arguing against a Cirque du Soleil [a popular circus]’s decision to fire someone based on his HIV status.”

Articles

Most of the articles listed here are from academic journals or law reviews. The citation is as follows:

Author family name, Author given name. “Title of article.” Title of journal where article was published. (Date of publication) Volume (issue): page numbers.

 Some articles may be ordered from online article databases such as www.pubmed.gov. Others can be ordered by contacting the journal on the internet. An “abstract” is a short summary of the article written by the authors of the article.

Asthana, Sheena. “AIDS-related policies, legislation and programme implementation in India.” Health Policy and Planning (1996) 11(2): 184-197. Abstract: “This paper traces the evolution of AIDS-related policy and legislation in India from an initial response characterized by conservatism and discrimination to the development of a coherent national programme which aims to prevent the transmission of HIV and to develop support structures for people with HIV and AIDS. Examining the strategies, achievements and problems of specific components of the National AIDS Control Programme (NACP), the paper finds that the very progressive approach of national-level policy makers has been countered by conservative forces at the state and local levels.”

Bayer R, Gostin L. “Legal and ethical issues relating to AIDS.” Bulletin of the Pan-American Health Organization (1990) 24(4): 454-68. Abstract: The worldwide AIDS epidemic has posed an extraordinary array of ethical and legal challenges. The work presented here reviews three issues at the heart of the matter: discrimination against HIV-infected people, the limits of confidentiality, and the exercise of coercive government powers to limit spread of the disease. Because the authors are most familiar with the U.S. experience, the review deals primarily with the history of the epidemic in the United States and public responses to it in that country.

Berner, Boel. “’Understanding ‘the contaminated blood affair’: Lessons from cross-national comparisons.” Health, Risk & Society (March 2007) 9(1): 105-112. Abstract excerpt: This extended review critically compares two edited texts which explore institutional and societal responses to the health risks posed by the presence of HIV infection in blood used for medical purposes. The review is used to raise more general issues about cross-national comparisons and regulatory responses to new risks.

Burris, Scott. “Studying the Legal Management of HIV-related Stigma.”  The American Behavioral Scientist (April 1999) 42 (7): 1229-1244. Abstract: Law has been a prominent tool for managing the stigmas associated with HIV. The belief that stigma would discourage HIV testing and that privacy and antidiscrimination policies could reduce this effect was plausible foundation for law in the early days of the epidemic, but is now ripe for reexamination. This article identifies major factual assumptions underlying current policies on HIV-related stigma and its legal management that should be addressed in future research, including the following: (a) stigma is an important factor in HIV-testing behavior, (b) people are aware of protective laws, (c) people are not aware of threatening laws, (d) protective laws will make people perceive less risk, and (e) the person at social risk will be willing to rely on the law for protection. Future research should better identify and integrate psychosocial factors that may influence stigma and the influence of law on it.

Chalmers, James. “Criminalisation of HIV Transmission: Can Doctors Be Liable for the Onward Transmission of HIV?” International Journal of STD & AIDS (2004) 15(12): 782-788.

“Criminalising HIV Infection.” AIDS Treatment Update (2003) 131: 2-6.

           “The Criminalisation of HIV Transmission” Journal of Medical Ethics (2002) 28(3): 160-163.

            “HIV and the Law.” In Michael Carter, ed., Living with HIV. Second edition. National AIDS Monitor Publications, 2006; pp. 350-361.

            “Sexually Transmitted Diseases and the Criminal Law” Juridical Review (2001) 259-278.

Csete, Joanne. “Is the UN Providing Leadership on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights?” Interrights Bulletin (2005) 15: 83-84.

Elamon, J. “A Situational Analysis of HIV/AIDS Discrimination in Kerala, India.” AIDS Care (July 2005) 17 (Supplement 2): S141-S151. Abstract: Due to its large population, India has a substantial proportion of the world’s HIV infections. Recent evidence suggests that the virus is moving into the general population from high-risk groups. Despite this, a mentality of ‘us’ and ‘them’ continues to prevail, where PLWHA are marginalised from mainstream society. Focusing on the area of health care, this study, through an analysis of legislative policy, written regulations and interviews with key informants and direct witnesses aims to map the forms of structural discrimination that inform the lives of PLWHA. Study findings indicate that a lack of clearly enunciated and enforced legislation (which is in some instances clearly discriminatory), coupled with an absence of written internal policy, leaves room for selective interpretation, which in turn creates the opportunities for discriminatory behaviours to be perpetuated against PLWHA. The paper concludes with a call for better  educational training of medical staff and the improvement of existing legislature.

Elliott, Richard and J. Gold. “Protection against discrimination based on HIV/AIDS status in Canada: the legal framework.” HIV/AIDS Policy Law Review (April 2005) 10(1): 20-31.

Feldman, Eric A. “Blood Justice: Courts, Conflict, and Compensation in Japan, France, and the United States.” Law & Society Review(2000) 34: 651.

Friedman, Ann Lorentson and Hughes, Rosemary B. “AIDS: Legal tools helpful for mental health counseling interventions.” Journal of Mental Health Counseling (July 1994) 16(3): 291-304. Discusses legal issues with implications for both the HIV-positive patients and the mental health counselor. Importance of encouraging persons to formally express their treatment wishes while competent; Right of patients to refuse extraordinary medical treatment to sustain life; Legal ramifications of failing to prevent suicide; Workplace discrimination; Laws affecting minors.

Gill, Bates et al. “China's HIV Crisis” Foreign Affairs, March/April 2002

González MacDowell, Enrique. “Juridical Action for the Protection of Collective Rights and Its Legal Impact: A Case Study.” Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics (Winter 2002) 30 (4): 644-655. Describes the fight to achieve a legal right to access HIV/AIDS antiretroviral treatment in Venezuela. Focus on constitutional claims against public health and social security agencies; details on the progressive recognition of related rights; provisions of the constitution on the right to health.

Gostin L., Webber D. “HIV Infection and AIDS in the Public Health and Health Care Systems” Journal of the American Medical Association (1998) 279: 1108-1113. Abstract: The AIDS Litigation Project has reviewed nearly 600 reported cases involving individuals with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in the federal and state courts in the United States between 1991 and 1997. Cases were identified through a federal and 50-state computer and library search. An important subset of litigation relates to HIV/AIDS in the public health and health care systems, since the law affects health care institutions and professionals, patients, and public health policy in America. This subset of HIV/AIDS litigation includes testing and reporting; privacy, the duty to warn, and the right to know; physician standards of care in prevention and treatment; and discrimination and access to health care. In broad terms, the review demonstrates a reliance on voluntary testing and protection of patient privacy through HIV-specific statutes and the common law. Negligence with potential civil and criminal liability has been alleged in cases of erroneous or missed diagnosis of HIV infection. In the first AIDS case to be considered by the Supreme Court, the Court will decide whether patients with asymptomatic HIV infection are protected under the Americans With Disabilities Act. Considerable progress has been made, both socially and legally, during the first 2 decades of the epidemic, but much still needs to be accomplished to protect privacy, prevent discrimination, and promote tolerance.

Grover, Anand, and Veena Johari. “The ‘Suspended Knot’: The Judgement Suspending the Right to Marry.” Interrights Bulletin (2005) 15: 88-89.

Harrant, Valerie. “The Price of Impending Death: Evidence from Compensation Awarded to Victims Contaminated by AIDS in France.” Journal of Legal Economics (Spring 2002) 12 (1): 53-83. Focuses on the calculation of the amount of compensation for the lost value of health and the loss of life in the case of impending death related to the French case of contaminated blood with AIDS. Necessity for compensation of contaminated victims by the blood; background information about the theory to the value-of-life; facts of the case of contaminated blood.

Hochberg, Francine A. “HIV/AIDS And Blood Donation Policies: A Comparative Study of Public Health Policies And Individual Rights Norms,” Duke Journal of Comparative & International Law (2002) 12: 231-279. Abstract: This study addresses the use of exclusionary criteria in blood donation policies to reduce the risk of transmitting HIV and other blood-borne pathogens for public health reasons. Hochberg looks at six areas of the world -- the United States, Canada, Denmark, Australia, Uganda and Singapore -- as case studies and how they determined which of their population was at risk for developing HIV and AIDS. She also examines the policies the countries put in place to combat this possibility and whether these policies justifiably infringed on individual rights in an effort to prevent further transmission of the disease.

Kelly, Joseph. “The Liability of Blood Banks and Manufactures of Clotting Products to recipients of HIV-infected Blood: A Comparison of the Law and the Reaction in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland and Australia,” John Marshall Law Review (1994) 27: 465-491.

Kirp, David L. “Look Back in Anger: Hemophilia and AIDS Activism in the International Tainted-Blood Crisis,” Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis (1999) 1(2): 177-202. Abstract: During the 1980s, the AIDS epidemic devastated the hemophiliac population. It also fostered the emergence of hemophilia activists, who have had a profound effect on policy and politics in scores of nations. Drawing on case studies of 11 countries, this article examines the impact of this emerging interest group on politics and policy outcomes. In addition, it compares the strategies adopted by hemophilia activists and gay activists, specifically the reliance on victimization or rights as the premise of demands for public support. Although the article focuses on community mobilization around AIDS, it speaks more generally to the growing international impact of interest group (or identity) politics on policy.

Klein, Susan J., with William D. Karchner and Daniel A. O'Connell. ”Interventions To Prevent HIV-Related Stigma and Discrimination: Findings and Recommendations for Public Health Practice.” Journal of Public Health Management & Practice (November 2002) 8(6): 44-53. Abstract excerpt: Stigma and discrimination exist in many forms, undermining individual and community health. Interventions to combat stigma and discrimination are essential to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. Health departments, and others, can benefit by mounting specific interventions against these threats to public health.

Peretti-Watel, P. with B. Spire, Y. Obadia, and J.P. Moatti. “Discrimination against HIV-Infected People and the Spread of HIV: Some Evidence from France.” Public Library of Science ONE (May 2, 2007) 2: 411. Abstract excerpt: Our study clearly confirms a relationship between discrimination and unsafe sex among PLWHAs infected through either injection drug use or heterosexual contact. This relationship was especially strong in the heterosexual group that has become the main vector of HIV transmission in France, and who is the more likely of sexual mixing with the general population. These results seriously question the hypothesis that HIV-stigma has no effect or could even reduce the infection spread of HIV.

Lambda Legal. “Lambda Legal’s World AIDS Day Report Card Shows Some Employers, Advocates, Health Agencies Meeting Needs of People with HIV, and Others Badly Lacking.” Press release. Available at http://www.lambdalegal.org/news/pr/world-aids-day-report.html, December 1, 2003, retrieved June 25, 2007.

Nielsen, G.A. and F.J. Young. “HIV/AIDS, advocacy and anti-discrimination legislation: The Australian response.” International Journal of STD and AIDS (January-February 1994) 5(1): 13-7. Abstract excerpt: This paper will address the role of mass communication strategies in the reduction of HIV/AIDS discrimination in Australia. It will focus on the interdependence of mass communication and legislation in health promotion campaigns with particular reference to the Disability Discrimination Act 1992. Mass communication can maximize the impact of legislation by promoting awareness of new laws and, more importantly, lead changes in the attitudes of the polity and the wider public.

Orsini, Michael. “Reframing Medical Injury? Viewing Tainted Blood Recipients as Victims of Cultural Injustice.” Social and Legal Studies (June 2007) 16(2): 241-258.

The Politics of Naming, Blaming and Claiming: HIV, Hepatitis C and the Emergence of Blood Activism in Canada.Canadian Journal of Political Science (2002), 35: 475-498.

Palmer, Caroline and Lynn Mickelson. “Many Rivers to Cross: Evolving and Emerging Legal Issues in the Third Decade of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic.” William Mitchell Law Review (2001) 28: 455.

Paxton S. et al. “AIDS-related Discrimination in Asia.” AIDS Care, May 2005; 17(4): 413-424.

Richter, M. “Certain Legal Aspects of AIDS Discrimination in South Africa.” AIDS Analysis Africa (February-March 2002) 12(5):12-4. Abstract: Over the last five years, the rules of employment and the health sector have undergone notable changes in terms of the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWAs) in South Africa. This article reviews certain legal aspects of AIDS discrimination in the country, taken from the experiences of the AIDS Law Project (ALP).

Schmidt, P. “Blood and AIDS: An International Political History.” ISBT Science Series, (September 2006) 1 (1): 266-271. Abstract: The politics of health was never tested more in the Western democracies than when AIDS surfaced at the beginning of the 1980s. In those countries it became the most important medical event of the last half of the 20th century. The significance of AIDS was not only as a disease that took away lives, but also as a disease that had great effects on social and political life.

Sinton, Jennifer and Jonathan Givner. “HIV and the Americans with Disabilities Act: Unintended Challenges for Plaintiffs.” Interrights Bulletin (2005) 15: 81-82.

Trebilcock. “Do Institutions Matter? A Comparative Pathology of the HIV-Infected Blood Tragedy.” Virginia Law Review (1996) 82(8): 1407.

Watchirs, Helen. “Public health, Criminal law and HIV/AIDS” Presented at meeting on Law, Medicine and Criminal Justice. Mariott Resort, Surfers Paradise, 6-8 July 1993. Available for download at http://www.aic.gov.au/conferences/medicine/watchirs.html, retrieved June 29, 2007.

Watts, Jonathan. “AIDS in China: new legislation, old doubts.” The Lancet  367 (9513): 803-804.

Weinberg, Peter D., with Jennie Hounshell, Laurence A. Sherman, John Godwin, Shirin Ali, Cecilia Tomori, and Charles L. Bennett. “Legal, financial, and public health consequences of HIV contamination of blood and blood products in the 1980s and 1990s.” Annals of internal medicine (February 19, 2002) 136(4): 312-319.

Yang. “Institutional and Structural Forms of HIV-related Discrimination in Health Care: A study set in Beijing.” AIDS Care (2005) 17 Suppl 2 -40.

Yang, Y., with K.L. Zhang. “HIV/AIDS-related discrimination in Shanxi rural areas of China.” Biomedical and environmental sciences (December 2004) 17(4): 410-7. Abstract excerpt: HIV/AIDS-related discrimination undermines both individuals' and communities' responses to HIV/AIDS and may be a serious obstacle towards effective HIV/AIDS prevention and control.

Zhang, Xiaoquan Heather. “The Gathering Storm: AIDS Policy in China.” Journal of International Development (December 2004) 16(8): 1155-1168. Abstract: This article offers an overview of the AIDS situation in China and analyses the Chinese official responses to the AIDS threat since 1985. It decomposes China's AIDS policy into two phases: a period with institutional inertia featured during the initial phase; and a recent period when the official stance on AIDS demonstrates stronger political will and commitment. The article particularly examines an unusual mode of HIV transmission in China, i.e. through unsafe, unregulated blood collection, to highlight the point that vulnerability to HIV/AIDS has been aggravated in a wider context of transition and worsening inequality. The article also compares policies for tacking AIDS with those for tackling SARS, and suggests lessons that can be learnt. It argues that despite recent positive developments, AIDS needs to be confronted more forcefully through an integrated approach that incorporates broader and fundamental development issues.

Fact sheets

These are a few sample materials developed by AIDS law centers that are given to clients to teach them about their rights. Fact sheets are usually written in simple English. You can find most of them on the web. You can also see a large number of excellent fact sheets on the website of the AIDS Law Project of South Africa (www.alp.org.za).

“Anti-Gay Housing Discrimination: A Guide for Property Owners and Managers.” Available at http://www.lambdalegal.org/our-work/publications/facts-backgrounds/page.jsp?itemID=31989154, published March 31, 2004, retrieved June 25, 2007.

“Be a Workplace Ally: Support your LGBT Coworkers and Coworkers with HIV.” Fact sheet. Available at http://www.lambdalegal.org/our-work/publications/facts-backgrounds/be-a-workplace-ally.html, published April 23, 2007, retrieved June 25, 2007.

 “HIV and Its Transmission.” Fact sheet. Centers for Disease Control. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/resources/factsheets/transmission.htm, modified March 8 2007, retrieved June 25, 2007.

“Know Your Rights.” A series of fact sheets in clear and simple language developed by the AIDS Law Project in South Africa, on HIV discrimination, the South African legal system, the rights of women, children, military, and others. Available at http://www.alp.org.za/index.php, retrieved June 25, 2007.

 “Quick Facts About Workplace Discrimination.” Fact sheet. Lambda Legal. Available at http://www.lambdalegal.org/our-work/publications/facts-backgrounds/quick-facts-about-workplace.html, published April 23, 2007, retrieved June 25, 2007.

U.S. Department of Education. “Placement of School Children with Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).” July 199. Available at http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/hq53e9.html, retrieved June 29, 2007.

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