Criminalizing Contagion: Legal and Ethical Challenges of Disease Transmission and The Criminal Law Summary of Key Findings and Outputs (Nov 2014)

This seminar series1 addressed a series of questions and brought together experts from a range of disciplines to answer them. This document summarises the arguments of each of the papers presented over the course of this seminar series, gives details of outputs connected to it, and also provides information on how and by whom we anticipate findings being used.

Building persuasive evidence How can the social sciences support global anti-criminalisation advocacy?

Working paper prepared for ‘HIV Prevention and the Criminal Law’ workshop, Toronto April 26-28, 2013. In order to better understand how advocates have used evidence to persuade policymakers and/or criminal justice system actors to repeal, reform and/or create improved outcomes for public health and/or human rights, leading advocates in four jurisdictions where such positive changes are taking place and/or have already occurred (Victoria, Australia; Denmark; England & Wales; and Iowa, United States) were asked to take part in a survey.

Beyond criminalization: reconsidering HIV criminalization in an era of reform

This paper reviews recent studies examining the application of HIV-specific criminal laws in North America (particularly the United States and Canada). In the wake of the development of new biomedical prevention strategies, many states in the United States (US) have recently begun to reform or repeal their HIV-specific laws. These findings can help inform efforts to ‘modernize’ HIV laws (or, to revise in ways that reflect recent scientific advances in HIV treatment and prevention).

Postnatal HIV transmission in breastfed infants of HIV-infected women on ART: a systematic review and meta-analysis (2017)

A systematic review of all literature to date (2017) on mother-to-child transmission in breastfed infants whose mothers received antiretroviral therapy and support the process of updating the World Health Organization infant feeding guidelines in the context of HIV and ART, which concludes that there is evidence of substantially reduced postnatal HIV transmission risk under the cover of maternal ART.

Breastfeeding with HIV: An Evidence-Based Case for New Policy (2019)

A review of the benefits and risks of breastfeeding for mothers living with HIV, and recommendations that the United States Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) include breastfeeding as an option for with living with on suppressive antiretroviral therapy who maintain an undetectable viral load.

Women living with HIV in high-income settings and breastfeeding (2020)

A thorough review of policy guidance, science and practice in high income settings from Denmark.  It concludes that “suppressive maternal ART significantly reduces, but does not eliminate, the risk of postnatal transmission of HIV through breastfeeding. However, it is important to recognize and acknowledge that some women living with HIV may wish to breastfeed their infant, in which both the healthcare providers and the women need evidence-based information about the risks and benefits to enable an informed decision.”

Phylogenetic analysis as a forensic tool in HIV transmission investigations

A review of HIV court case investigations published in the scientific literature, as well as the methodological aspects important for the application and standardisation of phylogenetic analyses methods as a forensic tool. Concludes that there has been a lack of consistency between methods and that it is essential to define guidelines to be used by phylogenetic forensic experts in HIV transmission cases.