Anti-HIV treatment

Illness

Pregnancy and conception

Criminal HIV transmission

Several people have recently been sent to prison in the UK after they “recklessly” infected their sexual partner(s) with HIV.

Many of the convictions relied on evidence showing a genetic link between the defendant’s and the complainant’s HIV.

The only acquittal to date came after an expert virologist, Dr Anna-Maria Geretti,  gave evidence showing that tests couldn’t really prove linkage in this way.

Along with other expert virologists, Dr Geretti has written an editorial in the British Medical Journal arguing that such genetic tests, called phylogenetic analysis, cannot prove HIV transmission in criminal cases and that convictions based on this evidence alone are “unsafe.”

Dr Gerreti has contributed a chapter to NAM’s book, Criminal HIV Transmission which you can order here.

New from NAM