The media has a responsibility to do more to counter the stigma that has been placed on HIV and AIDS so that more at-risk patients will seek treatment.
In a move towards universal HIV care, the WHO and UNAIDS have implemented a plan to make antiretroviral therapy available to 3 million HIV/AIDS victims worldwide by the end of 2005.
Public health officials have a responsibility to alert the public to prospective dangers without unduly restricting individual freedom or adding to the stigmatization of certain illnesses.
Preventing bad outcomes for teens and their offspring was the impetus behind confidential care for reproductive health. Requiring parental involvement created an obstacle to the provision of necessary care.
Donna T. Chen, MD, MPH, Lois Shepherd, JD, and Daniel M. Becker, MD, MPH, MFA
When most statutes about confidential treatment of adolescents were adopted, immunization against sexually transmitted infection was not anticipated, so the statutes contain no specific inclusion of such preventive measures.
Hanni Stoklosa, MD, MPH, Aimee M. Grace, MD, MPH, and Nicole Littenberg, MD, MPH
Training for health care professionals on human trafficking should be informed by a human rights perspective and include prevention and identification of trafficking and treatment of trafficking-related health conditions.
AMA J Ethics. 2015;17(10):914-921. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.10.medu1-1510.
Forced sterilization of HIV-positive women, which is widespread in South Africa, Namibia, and Chile, violates women’s human right to autonomy and the principle of informed consent and is medically unnecessary.
AMA J Ethics. 2015;17(10):952-957. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.10.pfor2-1510.
In the September 2014 issue on physicians as agents of social change, Dr. Audiey Kao, editor-in-chief of Virtual Mentor interviewed Dr. Rajiv Shah, administrator of the United States Agency for International Development or USAID.
Karlie A. Intlekofer, PhD, Michael J. Cunningham, MS, and Arthur L. Caplan, PhD
When public figures imperil the safety of the public with inaccurate claims that discourage vaccination, it is imperative that both organized medicine and individual physicians speak up.