Queen’s University professor and Dean of the Faculty of Law William Flanagan is available to comment on today’s Canadian Medical Association Journal article that calls for an end to criminal prosecution for not disclosing HIV status to sexual partners.

“I fully support the view expressed in the article,” says Professor Flanagan who has worked on HIV legal cases over many years.

The risk of transmission of HIV from appropriately treated people is now exceedingly low, the authors write, thanks to advancements in the treatment of HIV/AIDS. Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has been remarkably successful in suppressing production of the virus, resulting in people being in long-term remission. As well, these prosecutions can lead to stigmatization of people infected with HIV, curtailing reporting of the virus and disrupting prevention activities.

Professor Flanagan is only available for phone interviews.

To arrange an interview, please contact communications officers Anne Craig at anne.craig@queensu.ca, 613.533.2877 or Michael Onesi at michael.onesi@queensu.ca, 613.533.6000 ext. 77513, Queen’s News and Media Services.

Follow Queen’s News and Media Services on Twitter: http://twitter.com/QueensuMedia.