Social Work Speaks Abstracts

HIV and AIDS

An estimated 40 million people worldwide were living with HIV at the end of 2001 and more than 900,000 of those were in the United States. Although the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 aimed to provide legal protection for people living with HIV and AIDS, subsequent court rulings have reduced the scope of this law. Meanwhile, state laws vary widely in protecting the rights of people with HIV/AIDS, or, conversely, discriminating against them. NASW believes that factors, such as poverty, community disinvestment, and interpersonal violence must be addressed to curtail the spread of HIV/AIDS. More specifically, NASW advocates policies and practices in three major areas—prevention, testing, and service delivery—to assist people living with or affected by HIV/AIDS or at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS.

In the area of prevention, all social workers should be aware of and understand strategies to prevent HIV transmission, including safer sex and harm reduction, including educating clients about ways to reduce their risk. This education should focus on safer sex and harm reduction rather than abstinence-only content, and should avoid stigmatizingclients based on sexual orientation or gender identify, age, ethnicity, or substance use, for example. Similarly, NASW supports evidence-based prevention efforts targeted at children and adolescents in public and private schools.

On the issue of testing, NASW supports access to anonymous and low- or no-cost HIV testing. Testing should be by choice, be confidential, and include pre-and post-testing counseling with social workers encouraging their HIV-positive clients to inform others with whom they may have had sexual contact or shared needles.

Last, to adequately serve people living with HIV/AIDS, affordable, comprehensive and coordinated health care is necessary. This care should include social, psychological, and case management services, as well as medical care, to address such issues as housing, foster care, legal services, transportation, and maintaining drug regimens.