| 英文摘要 |
Partner notification is one of the important strategies for controlling the spread of HIV after the discovery of a HIV-infected person. The purpose of partner notification is to find all possible infected persons related to the index patient for health education, to inform the risk, and provide testing and treatment. While it has significant public health benefits, the infected may face coercive pressure of revealing the names of their partners, lose their privacy interests in maintaining confidentiality, and become susceptible to discrimination in partner notification. Taiwan’s central health authorities is now combating HIV/AIDS by enforcing contact tracing, a legal power delegated by Article 12 of the Prevention and Treatment of HIV Infection and the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Infected Persons (hereinafter referred to as the AIDS Act). It prescribes that the infected person has the obligation to provide his/her source of infection or contact with the competent authorities; the public health authorities may carry out an investigation on the infected and his/her source, but the implementation of the investigation shall not infringe the personality and privacy of infected persons. However, the AIDS Act provides neither clear guidance on the definition, mode, and scope of such an investigation nor the duty of infected person to disclose and the duty of health care workers to warn, nor does it consider the limitations on information collection and utilization. All these shortcomings result in difficulties and deviations in implementation of contact tracing. This article first discusses the three implications of partner notification, then examines the international guidelines and New York State and California Legislation, reviews the regulatory structure and implementation of the Taiwan AIDS Act, and finally provides recommendations for reforming Taiwan’s AIDS law and public health policy. |
