Criminal Law and Public Health Practice: Are the Canadian HIV Disclosure Laws an Effective HIV Prevention Strategy?

Over the last few years, the number of people living with HIV who have been convicted for not disclosing their HIV status
to sexual partners in Canada has been steadily increasing. Whilst these laws are criminal in nature, and not public health-based,
it is important to examine their effect on public health HIV prevention efforts. To undertake such an analysis, the impact
fraction model was used to structure and examine the extant literature about HIV transmission, HIV status awareness and HIV
testing practices. The findings of this analysis indicate that although these laws might prevent HIV transmission in a few
isolated cases, it is unlikely that they would influence overall population-level rates of HIV transmission. Some evidence
even suggests that these laws could exacerbate HIV transmission.