Health+Law Explained

People living with HIV and hepatitis B experience legal problems at far higher rates than the general population – and it’s not because of the viruses themselves.  

In this 5-minute video, Health+Law research lead Associate Professor David Carter describes how the law can create everyday challenges for people living with blood‑borne viruses. As he explains: 

There is nothing inherent in a virus or living with a disease that means it should attract legal problems. But there is something in the way we’ve arranged the law and the legal environment that’s clearly targeting and providing a differential experience for people living with these conditions. 

David also describes how the challenges created by law and legal systems produce flow on effects for people’s wellbeing, access to health care, work, daily life, relationships and more. For people living with a blood-borne virus, ‘the law is a really everyday reality’, he says. 

The video also sets out Health+Law's core mission and approach to researching these intersections where health meets the law, and how we go about that in partnership with people and organisations in the community.  

It’s a short, clear explanation of what Health+Law’s research on the ‘legal needs’ of people living with blood-borne viruses looks like in practice, and a glimpse at what we have found.   

If you’ve been curious about what we actually do, please watch and listen to (and share!) this overview of our work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiJaZ6v9f0c