CONFIDENTIALITY ISSUES CONCERNING HIV/AIDS AND PRIVILEGED COMMUNICATIONS IN HEALTHCARE
AUTHOR – KEERTHANA PREETHI A & KRISHNA LEELA S
STUDENTS AT SCHOOL OF EXCELLENCE IN LAW (SOEL), THE TAMILNADU DR. AMBEDKAR LAW UNIVERSITY
BEST CITATION – KEERTHANA PREETHI A & KRISHNA LEELA S, CONFIDENTIALITY ISSUES CONCERNING HIV/AIDS AND PRIVILEGED COMMUNICATIONS IN HEALTHCARE, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 5 (14) OF 2025, PG. 890-894, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344.
ABSTRACT
The management of confidentiality concerning HIV/AIDS status represents one of the most ethically fraught intersections of medical ethics, patent autonomy and public health obligation in contemporary India. This article comprehensively examines the legal architecture governing physician-patient confidentiality in HIV cases, analyzing the HIV/AIDS (Prevention and Control)Act 2017, Indian Evidence Act provisions on privileged communication, National Medical Commission (NMC) 2023 Regulations, Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) 2023, and seminal Supreme Court precedents including Mr.X v. Hospital Z(1999). The analysis reveals a complex framework balancing fundamental rights- patient dignity and privacy under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution against public health imperatives and third-party protection obligations. Drawing on victimological perspectives that frame confidentiality breaches as secondary victimization exacerbating stigma and healthcare avoidance, and examining comparative international approaches from Commonwealth and global bioethics frameworks, this article argues that India’s current legal landscape inadequately balances competing interests. The article proposes reformed protocols integrating: narrow, necessity-based disclosure standards; robust data protection mechanism; informed consent frameworks for information sharing;ethics committee oversight; and community-based stigma reduction strategies aligned with the UN 2030 agenda and India’s National AIDS Control Programme (NACP-V).Through constitutional, statutory, case law and ethical analysis, the article demonstrates how protective confidentiality regimes paradoxically enhance both individual rights protection and public health outcomes by facilitating treatment-seeking behaviour and enabling genuine informed consent. The framework proposed emphasizes that confidentiality protection for people living with HIV (PLHIV) represents not obstacle to public health but essential precondition for effective disease control in India’s evolving healthcare landscape.
Keywords: HIV/AIDS, confidentiality, privileged communication, India legal framework, NMC 2023 Regulations, informed consent, etc.