HIV/AIDS

HIV/AIDS

Introduction

AIDS is an acronym for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. AIDS is generally, although not universally, thought to be associated with the presence of HIV, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. All persons with HIV cannot appropriately be said to have AIDS. The United States Center for Disease Control's (CDC's) technical descriptor of AIDS has to do with either the presence of an opportunistic infection associated with HIV, and/or a diminution of the body's CD4 (T-lymphocyte or T-cell) count to below 200 per cubic millimeter of blood. (Kallings, 2008, 218)

Evidence suggests that HIV is spread through transmission of bodily fluids typically associated with intimate sexual contact and/or intravenous drug use, though cases of in utero mother to child transmission are on the rise. HIV is fragile once outside the body, and is therefore not transmittable through casual contact. AIDS is treatable but not curable. With proper treatment, it is not unusual for individuals to live ten years or even longer from time of initial diagnosis with HIV to eventual death.

The symptoms of AIDS

The symptoms of AIDS are primarily the result of conditions that do not normally develop in individuals with healthy immune systems. Most of these conditions are infections caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites that are normally controlled by the elements of the immune system that HIV damages. Opportunistic infections are common in people with AIDS. HIV affects nearly every organ system.

People with AIDS also have an increased risk of developing various cancers such as Kaposi's sarcoma, cervical cancer and cancers of the immune system known as lymphomas. Additionally, people with AIDS often have systemic symptoms of infection like fevers, sweats (particularly at night), swollen glands, chills, weakness, and weight loss. (Kallings, 2008, 218) The specific opportunistic infections that AIDS patients develop depend in part on the prevalence of these infections in the geographic area in which the patient lives.

HIV/AIDS should be a core business issue for every company - particularly those with interests in heavily affected countries - according to the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS (http://www.businessfightsaids.org/). Estimates by the World Bank suggest that the macroeconomic impact of HIV/AIDS may reduce the growth of national income by up to a third in countries where the prevalence among adults is 10 percent.

The issue of resolving rights conflicts with respect to persons with AIDS in the workplace is necessarily complicated by consideration of RISK tolerance. Few, if any, rights are absolute; therefore, the challenge for the deontologist is to decide which among a competing set of rights is most foundational. This determination is in some sense dependent upon the probability, or risk, of alternative realizable policies. Neither the view that the rights of the AIDS sufferer must be protected at all cost, nor the view that the rights of co-workers are inviolate, seems correct. (Kallings, 2008, 218) However, the suggestion that determination of a “rights hierarchy” - and thereby of one policy versus another - is dependent upon risk assessment necessarily moves the argument toward consideration of the utilitarian consequences of alternative ...