LONDON: The British government said yesterday it would lift a ban on staff with HIV working in the state-run National Health Service from carrying out certain procedures on patients.
Staff who are undergoing treatment for HIV will be able to carry out all procedures from which they are currently banned, including surgery and dentistry, provided they are having effective anti-retroviral drug therapy.
England’s chief medical officer, Professor Sally Davies, said there was no proof that anyone had contracted HIV from a health worker and it was time to scrap “outdated rules”.
She said improved treatment meant HIV, the human immunodeficiency virus that can lead to AIDS, could often be managed and carriers could lead long and normal lives.
Self-testing kits for HIV will also be legalised in Britain from April 2014, to improve early detection of the disease.
“At the moment we bar totally safe healthcare workers who are on treatment with HIV from performing many surgical treatments, and that includes dentists.”
Davies said huge improvements in the treatment of HIV meant that today, carriers can lead “lives that are normal in quality and length”.
“With effective treatment, they are not infectious,” she added.
AFP
