Do HIV patients face discrimination?
The Assembly’s Equality of Opportunity Committee, of which I am a member, has today started an inquiry into whether people living with HIV face discrimination by health care professionals and providers.
This is an important inquiry, not least because we are dealing with a subject matter that is sensitive and one that politicians traditionally have not looked at. It’s also a tricky subject for the clinicians who provide care for people living with HIV, whether for that illness or any other that may require attention.
Two problems occurred today with the evidence. In questioning the BMA and the BDA it was clear that some professionals might not be as sensitive to the subject as they should be, a point that neither body tried to deny. A further problem was the lack (at the moment, admittedly we’ve only just started the review) of a body of substantive evidence, beyond the anecdotal information provided by organisations with an interest in the welfare of people with HIV.
The evidence provided by AIDS Trust Cymru suggests that some people are referred by their GP to a Specialist even if the medical condition is not related to the HIV, some patients are put into inappropriate infection control rooms in hospital and there are some who feel discriminated against by dentists who “triple glove”.
The committee may well struggle with this review, regardless of how worthwhile the subject matter is, because of a lack of hard data, I hope I am proved wrong.