Question

Preventing exposure to infectious diseases is better understood if we have the knowledge of the mode of spread of disease justify with examples

Answer 1

· Minimizing the transmission of infectious diseases is a core function of public health law. The appropriate exercise of legal powers will vary according to the seriousness of the disease, the means of transmission, and how easily the disease is transmitted. · Law can contribute to the prevention of infectious diseases by improving access to vaccinations and contraceptives, and by facilitating screening, counselling and education of those at risk of infection. Law also has a reactive role: supporting access to treatment, and authorizing public health authorities to limit contact with infectious individuals and to exercise emergency powers in response to disease outbreaks. · Where public health laws authorize interferences with freedom of movement, the right to control one’s health and body, privacy, and property rights, they should balance these private rights with the public health interest in an ethical and transparent way. Public health powers should be based on the principles of public health necessity, reasonable and effective means, proportionality, distributive justice, and transparency. · Immunization is a successful and cost-effective public health strategy that saves millions of lives each year. Governments can support vaccination coverage by ensuring that vaccination is free or affordable, by ensuring that all children are vaccinated (with limited exceptions for medical or religious reasons), and that vaccinations are documented. · Screening individuals to determine if they have been infected with or exposed to an infectious disease is a core public health strategy. Early treatment has important public health benefits; for example, people receiving treatment for tuberculosis and HIV infection are less likely to transmit the infection to others. Routine, voluntary HIV testing benefits both affected individuals and their intimate partners by facilitating early access to prevention, care and treatment services. · Health laws can improve the success of voluntary screening programmes by including counselling requirements, ensuring the confidentiality of test results, and protecting individuals diagnosed with particular diseases from discrimination. Public health laws should protect the confidentiality of a person’s HIV status, authorizing disclosure to third parties only in limited circumstances where a third party is at significant risk of HIV transmission and where other statutory preconditions are met. · Governments should carefully consider the appropriate role of criminal law when amending laws to prevent the transmission of infectious and communicable diseases. For example, criminal penalties for transmission of HIV may create disincentives to individuals to come forward for HIV testing and treatment, or may provide the pretext for harassment and violence against vulnerable groups. Encouraging personal responsibility and self-protection is critical, especially in countries where rates of HIV infection are high. · Public health laws should authorize compulsory treatment only in circumstances where an individual is unable or unwilling to consent to treatment, and where their behaviour creates a significant risk of transmission of a serious disease. Compulsory treatment orders should restrict individual liberty only to the extent necessary to most effectively reduce risks to public health.