Medical confidentiality and HIV: Ethical Issues. Ethical issues borne by the Medical Confidentiality Rule in the context of HIV infection

AIDS is a growing epidemic worldwide. It continues to raise many questions about the rights of HIV patients when it comes to care. Among these rights, one of the most problematic is the right to respect for medical confidentiality, particularly with regard to the intangible nature of this right. Indeed, on the one hand, the loss of autonomy at the AIDS stage leads to a discussion on the possibility of announcing the diagnosis to the family, especially at the end of life or in case of refusal of care, in order to ensure continuity of care. On the other hand, the risk of transmission to others may parent the question of the choice between respecting patient confidentiality and protecting the population. Thus, through five cases of HIV-infected patients collected in the infectious diseases department of Hedi Chaker University Hospital in Sfax, this study proposes an analysis of the problems arising from the application of the principle of medical confidentiality in the context of HIV infection from a legal and ethical point of view.