If you’re a gay man in Canada who knows you’ve got HIV, there is a very high chance indeed that your infection will be monitored, and that you’ll be on treatment if you need it. And that in turn means that your viral load will be kept low, and you’ll be very much less infectious than you might be if you didn’t get regular checks and treatment. While I’d obviously like to see more positive people being able and willing to talk openly about their infection, the truth is that the chances of getting infected by someone with well-managed HIV is very slim, whether or not they tell you. And whether or not you bother to ask (because let’s face it sex does, usually, take at least two, each of whom can choose to take responsibility for themselves). But of course if you don’t KNOW you’re infected, you can’t be prosecuted for not disclosing. The criminalisation laws provide a strong disincentive to get tested. That means there’s more untreated virus around, and that in turn means more HIV transmission.

I could go on about the other logical inconsistencies in the piece — if not disclosing is murder, then are doctors who know a person’s status but don’t tell that person’s partner accessories to murder? etc etc. But I’m not going to, because I’m in Vancouver and have a whole day of good science at the Canadian Conference on HIV/AIDS research to look forward to. In honour of my visit to Canada, though, I thought I’d post for your listening pleasure these priceless phone messages left by the flower of Canadian manhood for some woman who tried to slough off his letching with a business card. Hard to imagine why, instead of calling him back (“I’m practically the only man in this city who has not a single thing wrong with him”), she sent the messages in to a Toronto radio station.

*UPDATE*
Rick Kennedy of the Ontario AIDS Network sent me the following clarification:

According to the 2003 ruling in the William case “Once an individual becomes aware of a risk that he or she has contracted HIV, and hence that his or her partner’s consent has become an issue, but nevertheless persists in unprotected sex that creates a risk of further HIV transmission without disclosure to his or her partner, recklessness is established”.

To date, no one has been charged on the basis of this ruling. If you go to the Ontario AIDS Network website, to the
HIV debate section and download the excellent Powerpoint presentation by Glenn Betteridge you will find a detailed explnation of current status of the Canadain law.

So I did. Glenn’s presentation is here and there’s lots of other useful information about criminalisation on the Ontario AIDS Network site. Thanks, Rick.

And thanks to Javi for the phone number…