Boy DOESN’T have to tell teen girl he has HIV

Charity welcomes decision by High Court

HIV Ireland has welcomed a High Court decision not to force a teenager with the virus to tell a young woman he is carrying the disease.

The youngster is under 18 and has been in the State’s care for a number of years.

He has had HIV since birth. The landmark case was brought by the Child & Family Agency, Tusla last month.

The High Court was tasked with deciding whether a doctor can disclose the HIV status of a patient, without their consent, to another person who the doctor believes is having unprotected sex with the patient.

The court decided the circumstances did not justify the breach of patient confidentiality.

HIV Ireland spokesman Niall Mulligan said yesterday: “We welcome this decision of the High Court not to force a teenager living with HIV to disclose his status against his will.”

He added the stigma of patients living with the virus is damaging to their mental health.

Mr Mulligan explained: “Forcing someone to disclose they are living with HIV only perpetuates the stigma that currently exists in Ireland. HIV is a manageable illness.

“We know people living with HIV, who are compliant with their treatment, and have an undetectable viral load cannot pass it on to someone else.

“The onus is on all of us to take responsibility for our own sexual health. We encourage everyone to use condoms, to avail of regular sexual health testing and to be informed of the risks involved in having unprotected sex.”

The Child and Family Agency wanted to be able to disclose the teen’s status to a young woman who is also under 18.

It believes he has been having unprotected sex with this young woman – this is denied by the young man who says they are very good friends.