HIV/AIDS Policy & Law Review, Volume 14, Number 1 ... - CATIE

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS
Uganda: Proposed bill would
criminalize HIV transmission, force
partners to reveal HIV-positive status
The Uganda government has introduced in Parliament an omnibus AIDS bill which aims to
criminalize the “intentional or willful” transmission of HIV, introduce “routine” HIV testing
for pregnant women, and require disclosure of one’s HIV-positive status to one’s spouse or
partner. The bill also contains measures to protect the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS,
including guaranteeing access to treatment and providing protection against discrimination. 1
Under the bill, conviction on the
charge of intentionally or willfully
transmitting HIV would be punishable
by death.
The bill is the first formal effort
by the government to criminalize
behaviour that could lead to HIV
transmission. It comes at a time of
growing anxiety among public health
specialists over the stagnation of
the country’s HIV prevalence rate at
around 6.5 per cent and evidence of
rising year-on-year infections.
There has been a recent public
outcry over media reports of HIVpositive
individuals infecting minors,
which has gained support for the bill.
HIV/AIDS advocates have
expressed opposition to the provisions
criminalizing HIV transmission.
They said that applying criminal law
to HIV-risk behaviour was likely to
undermine prevention efforts and,
rather than encouraging people to
know their status, would actually
deter them from seeking HIV testing.
“If you push for ... punishment
because someone is infected, you are
discriminating and undermining the
rights of people living with HIV,”
said Beatrice Were, a leading HIVpositive
campaigner. 2
Stella Kentutsi, program manager
at the National Forum of
PLWHAs Networks in Uganda
(NAFOPHANU) asked, “How do
you know who infects intentionally
and wilfully and who does not?
What makes it intentional or wilful?” 3
“We should avoid creating scenarios
where people living with
HIV/AIDS are looked at either
criminals or potential criminals,” a
statement by NAFOPHANU said.
“Rather than introducing laws criminalising
HIV exposure and transmission,
legislators must reform laws
that stand in the way of HIV prevention
and treatment.” 4
The proposed legislation calls for
routine HIV testing for both pregnant
women and their partners, as well as
couples planning to marry.
Dr David Apuuli Kihumuro, head
of the Uganda AIDS Commission,
said that the provision that HIV status
disclosure would be mandatory for
couples planning to marry should be
changed (along with certain other
sections of the bill). “We have to
think about the repercussions of
this in a male-dominated society,”
Kihumuro said, noting that many
women were afraid of their husbands’
reactions once they revealed their
HIV status. 5
At least three women in Uganda
have been killed by their husbands
in 2008 because they were HIVpositive.
Kentutsi said that medical practitioners
usually had no way of knowing
how a spouse or other sexual
partners might react, and should
therefore not be permitted to reveal
an infected person’s HIV status. 6
Although the bill provides for
voluntary testing and counselling, it
would also require mandatory testing
for people charged with drug abuse,
illegal possession of medical instruments,
sexual offences and commercial
sex work. As well, sexual assault
survivors would undergo routine HIV
testing.
The bill encourages HIV-positive
people to inform their partners about
their status, and follow prevention
and treatment measures to prevent
transmission of the virus; and recommends
that health workers notify the
sexual partners of people who test
positive for HIV if the individual
“has been given reasonable opportunity
to inform their partner(s) of their
HIV-positive status and has failed to
do so.” 7
In addition, the draft law would
permit a court to order an individual
to undergo an HIV test.
HIV/AIDS advocates have
expressed concern about the disclo-
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