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B) Recommendations of the Committee of Ministers
COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS RECOMMENDATION NO. R (89) 14 OF THE COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS TO MEMBER STATES ON THE ETHICAL ISSUES OF HIV INFECTION IN THE HEALTH CARE AND SOCIAL SETTINGS (adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 24 October 1989 at the 429th meeting of the Ministers' Deputies) (1) (2) The Committee of Ministers under the terms of Article 15.b of the Statute of the Council of Europe, Considering that the aim of the Council of Europe is to achieve greater unity between its members and that this aim may be pursued, inter alia, by the adoption of common action in the health field; Aware of the magnitude of the challenge HIV infection represents for Public Health Authorities in the absence of vaccine and curative treatment; Conscious in particular of the ethical issues arising in health care and social settings deriving from the need to balance individual and collective rights and duties in the fight against infection; Believing that respect for the human and social rights of HIV infected individuals and patients with Aids is crucial for the success of a preventive public health policy; Bearing in mind in this respect the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, and the European Social Charter; Recalling its Recommendation No R (87) 25 concerning a Common European Public Health Policy to fight the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and in particular the recommendations concerning the implementation for a comprehensive information strategy, Recommends that the Governments of Member States : - ensure that the principles contained in the Appendix to the Recommendation, drawn up in the light of present knowledge, are reflected in the application of national public health policies to fight HIV infection, - for this purpose, ensure that the Recommendation is brought to the attention of all those individuals and bodies responsible for the drawing up and implementation of policies to fight HIV infection. APPENDIX TO RECOMMENDATION No R (89) 14 I. PUBLIC HEALTH POLICY In this connection, the three main ethical and legal issues to be addressed are : - whether to introduce voluntary testing, or various forms of screening; - whether to offer infected persons the same guarantees of confidentiality, as other patients; - whether to introduce restrictive measures. In the light of present knowledge, voluntary testing, integrated into the process of counselling, is the approach which is most effective from the public health point of view, and most acceptable ethically and legally, provided that it is supported by vigorous information campaigns, full respect for confidentiality and the implementation of a non-discriminatory policy. _________________ 1) When this Recommendation was adopted the Representative of Sweden, referring to Article 10.2.d of the Rules of Procedure the meetings of the Ministers' Deputies, recorded her abstention and in an explanatory statement said that her Government will not consider itself bound by the Recommendation. (2) When this Recommendation was adopted the Representative of Iceland, in application of Article 10.2.c of the Rules of Procedure for the meetings of the Ministers' Deputies, reserved the right of his Government to comply or not with first sub-paragraph of paragraph 41 of Appendix to the Recommendation concerning "partner notification".
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