The Swedish Parliament has voted to urge the government to completely abolish the co-called “disclosure demand”, stipulating that those living with HIV must inform their partners about their disease.
According to the Swedish Parliament, the current legislation which obligates HIV-positive people to disclose their status to their sexual partner is “relatively ineffective from the medical viewpoint” and “a poor ideological marker”. Hence, it should be completely abolished.
“Society should not go in and force a duty of information. Here, the hope is that couples will solve this in a pragmatic way”, Barbro Westerholm, Liberal Party spokesman on LGBT issues, told the medical newspaper Dagens Medicin ahead of the vote.
In the same proposal, Parliament urged the government to assign an appropriate authority to propose preventive measures to promote the mental health of the LGBT community, citing studies indicating a higher incidence of mental health issues compared with the general population.
The proposal, sponsored by the Green Party, which is an important sidekick to the ruling Social Democrats, has been praised by the Swedish Association for Sexuality Education (RFSU), which for many years has fought to abolish the “disclosure demand”. The tax-financed organisation described the decision as a “big victory”. In the next step, RFSU President Hans Linde called to revise the current Infectious Diseases Act, Swedish Radio reported.
Stor seger!
— RFSU (@RFSU) March 4, 2020
Idag beslutade riksdagen att den som lever med hiv inte längre ska behöva berätta om sin sjukdom för sina sexpartners. Behandlad hiv går inte att överföra.
Vi har länge arbetat för avskaffad informationsplikt.
Vår kommentar: https://t.co/o0of3tteuY pic.twitter.com/KX0LazUyZR
Since 1985, HIV-positive people have a criminal obligation to inform possible sexual partners of their medical status. In 2013, however, the Public Health Authority (then the Infectious Diseases Institute) concluded that the risk of HIV transmission is minimal during intercourse with a condom, if the HIV-positive party is on well-functioning antiviral treatment.
Since then, anyone living with well-treated HIV, can be exempted from the disclosure demand after a decision by his or her physician.
According to the news outlet Fria Tider, however, Parliament has effectively “legalised the spread of HIV”, paving the way for the right to have unprotected sex without any obligations even for people who aren't receiving treatment.
Riksdagen beslut: Gör det lagligt sprida HIV https://t.co/09Fiz7PVox
— Fria Tider (@friatider) March 4, 2020
As of today, there are about 8,000 people living with HIV in Sweden, according to the Public Health Authority.
