Download Individual Rights and Responsibilities

Running head: Responsibilities Involving HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis
Individual Rights and Responsibilities Regarding HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis
Maria K Jorgensen
Concordia University
1
Responsibilities involving HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis
2
Individual Rights and Responsibilities
Regarding HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis
HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis present huge threats to the public due to their extremely
infectious nature. The responsibility regarding the transmission and prevention of these diseases
mainly falls on those already infected, however, communities and the public health field also
work to share this responsibility to protect individual and community rights. In order to protect
the public's right to health, compromises to individual privacy and rights are made with as much
respect to the individual as possible. Management of these diseases also come from public health
policies that work with prevention and treatment efforts.
Individual and Community Responsibility
A large amount of the responsibility for prevention and control of HIV/AIDS,
Tuberculosis and other STDs comes from the individual infected with the communicable disease.
The community's role in the prevention of infectious diseases is dependent on the provision of
voluntary services to individuals such as screening programs, treatment and disease
consultations.
Screening and reporting programs benefit the individuals at risk for disease, furthering
prevention efforts through education of those infected and preventing further cases in the
community. Reporting those who test positive to the state, "would allow them to ensure that such
persons were properly counseled about the significance of their laboratory tests and about what
they needed to do to prevent further transmission of the virus"(Bayer & Fairchild, 2010).
Reporting also creates the opportunity to educate infected individuals about current treatment
options and where to receive additional resources regarding their test results.
Responsibilities involving HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis
3
Individual Privacy and Community Needs
"Communicable diseases, particularly those that are readily contagious, take on social
significance because their ability to spread often depends on our social interactions. Their ethical
significance is therefore intimately related to the extent, nature, quality, and care with which we
attend to those social interactions"(Cheyette, 2011). Currently, there are state reporting programs
that require those who have a positive blood test result be reported to the state for their viral
marker results. This policy does impact individual privacy but benefits the community to help to
prevent further spread of the disease.
Programs like this help with communicable diseases from spreading rampantly through
education and notification of close contacts to the infected individuals. Education of the
individual who tests positive about treatments and responsibility to prevent further spread of the
disease is vital to reducing viral markers in high risk regions. Despite individuals names being
given to the state to be added to registries for their test results, the registry, and others similar to
it, are kept highly confidential and have not experienced a breach in the past.
Limits to Freedom. "The only purpose for which power can rightfully be exercised over
any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own
good, both the physical moral, is not sufficient warrant"(Jennings, Kahn, Mastroianni, & Parker,
2003). Whenever the common good is compromised for individual rights the rights of the
individual must be compromised to protect the public. Individuals' rights are limited by the
impact they have on the total population. Creating policy that restricts individual freedoms serve
the purpose of protecting the public's welfare. Policies such as quarantines, contact tracing, and
border restrictions are all examples of legislations put into place to protect the public's health that
limit individual rights.
Responsibilities involving HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis
4
Global Health Response. The global health community needs to address infectious
diseases similarly to community interventions. Globally, we must provide education, screening,
counseling, and treatment for all people to ensure viral markers decrease and fewer individuals
are impacted by such fatal but preventable diseases. The global health community needs to have
a heavier emphasis on unity and communication with other countries to help with funding,
access and distribution of services to reach the greatest need groups.
Conclusion and Recommendations. Responsibility of disease prevention mainly falls on
the infected individual. However, the responsibility to provide resources such as screening,
counseling, education, and treatment programs are the responsibility of the community and
society. Public health officials need to work through these resources to help with education and
prevention of further spread of the disease. In order to ensure that the public's right to wellness is
protected, individual rights are occasionally limited in regards to privacy, quarantine needs, and
border protection laws. Reporting programs are the most prevalent restriction of individual's
right to privacy but provide the state with contact tracing abilities and also pose little risk to the
infected individual. The registry systems used for viral marker reporting are highly confidential
and kept only to ensure other individuals are not victimized by knowingly infected individuals.
Global efforts to prevent infectious diseases mainly rely on the unity of all countries with
resources such as funding, man-power, education, treatments and screening programs. Globally,
infectious disease programs must be equally diligent as community efforts with prevention
Responsibilities involving HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis
5
References
Bayer, R. & Fairchild, A. (2010). When worlds collide: Health surveillance, privacy,
public policy. Social Research, 77(3), 905-928.
Cheyette, C. (2011). Communitarianism and the ethics of communicable disease. Journal
of Law, Medicine, & Ethics, Winter, 678-689.
Jennings, B., Kahn, J., Mastroianni, A., & Parker, L., (2003). Module 5: Ethics and
infectious disease control: STDs, HIV, TB. Ethics and public health: model curriculum, 133146.