logo

Ethical and Legal Issues in Healthcare Assignment (Solved)

   

Added on  2020-11-23

8 Pages1880 Words230 Views
Ethical and Legal Issues inHealthcare

TABLE OF CONTENTSINTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1May a person’s HIV status be revealed without their consent?...................................................1Ethical considerations..................................................................................................................2Legal aspects................................................................................................................................3CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................3REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................................4

INTRODUCTIONHIV is one of the life threatening viruseswhich affects the immunity of body and is oftenconsidered as extremely critical and taboo condition. According to Coltart et al., (2018) peoplemust be more concerned about the treatment or the prevalence of disease rather than giving morepriority to social stigmas associated with HIV. The life threatening disease does not have anyeffective and curable treatment and is transmitted by the body fluids (Mutenherwa, Wassenaarand de Oliveira, 2018). However, most of the people discriminate the HIV patients due tomisconception that disease is contagious and can spread by ordinary physical contact as well. Itmakes the disclosure of HIV status very critical and sensitive subject (Sowell and Phillips, 2016).The study will analyse ethical and legal aspects in revealing the HIV status of an individualwithout consent.MAIN BODYMay a person’s HIV status be revealed without their consent?Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) damages the immune system of body and thusmake body vulnerable to other chronic diseases like cancer or diabetes. The present treatmentstrategies can only suppress and delay the symptoms. HIV infection can occur only via sexualtransmission or via infected semen, blood and other body fluids. However, due to fear and lackof knowledge, it is commonly assumed by the communities that even if they will touch or shakehands with the infected person, they will also get infection (Klitzman et al., 2016). Apart fromthis aspect, many religious beliefs assumes that HIV infected individuals are impure and thusthey must be boycotted from the society. This is the main reason that HIV is one of the taboosubject and identity of infected people is not disclosed.However, in certain situations it is required that health care professionals need to disclosethe HIV status of individuals even without their consent. Though from ethical as well as legalperspective,it cannot be considered legal to disclose patient's identity without their consent.However, situational demands lead health service providers into dilemma and they are requiredto take decision on disclosing the identity of HIV sufferer without their permission (Hosek et.al.2016). For instance, since HIV is contagious thus especially for the sexual partners it is vital toknow their HIV status so that risk of infection can be eliminated. Similarly, on many occasionswhen blood transmissions are required, then it is necessary to assure that blood of HIV infectedpeople is not used. 1

End of preview

Want to access all the pages? Upload your documents or become a member.

Related Documents
Common Hazards Faced in a Healthcare Center Assignment 2022
|12
|2574
|13

Understanding HIV Disease: Causes, Symptoms, and Prevention Strategies
|11
|4434
|289

The tragedy of HIV due to Blood Transfusion Reaction
|13
|1211
|7

(PDF) HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment
|15
|4701
|417

HIV and AIDS: Definition, Causes, Symptoms, and Prevention
|8
|2173
|44

Public Health Intelligence Sample Assignment
|20
|4201
|82