Medicalization is not a Four-Letter Word

published on September 23, 2013 in Positive Lite

BOB LEAHY ON THE FUTURE ROLE OF BIOMEDICAL SOLUTIONS, NOTABLY TREATMENT AS PREVENTION, IN IMPROVING THE HEALTH OF PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV AND IN HELPING PUT AN END TO THE EPIDEMIC.

We’ve been charged today with looking ahead and I’m going to do that, but I think it’s also important to frame that look ahead in terms of where we’ve come from and our own personal journeys.

So . . I need to state up front that for many years I’ve been an activist and while doing that work – it was one of my pet causes - I was an opponent of treatment as prevention. I didn’t like what I perceived as its emphasis on public health over personal health. I didn’t like the ethical issues it raised. I didn’t like the idea of starting treatment earlier than we had to. I was troubled by the notion of informed consent and how best to make sure that it happened. I didn’t like the prospect of side effects from taking what seemed like unnecessary medication when you could easily wait until it was absolutely needed. So I didn’t like the notion of treatment as prevention at all.

Bob Leahy - Editor
Positive Lite
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St. Paul's Hospital 608–1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6Z 1Y6
Tel: 604-806-8477 | Fax: 604-806-9044
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(Please do not use any of these email addresses to send personal information or book an appointment. To book appointments or contact the H2H clinic, please call 604-416-1517 or fax: 604-564-4893. Do not send your or your client's personal information via email.)

© Copyright BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS
St. Paul's Hospital 608–1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6Z 1Y6
Tel: 604-806-8477 | Fax: 604-806-9044
General inquiries: info@bccfe.ca
Media inquiries: communications@bccfe.ca
(Please do not use any of these email addresses to send personal information or book an appointment. To book appointments or contact the H2H clinic, please call 604-416-1517 or fax: 604-564-4893. Do not send your or your client's personal information via email.)

Our work serves clients and communities across British Columbia on lands and waters cared for and nurtured by the many distinct First Nations across the province. The BC-CfE humbly and gratefully acknowledge the stewards of these lands, particularly the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔ (Tsleil-Waututh) on whose unceded, traditional and ancestral territories our offices are located.