originally posted in:Sapphire
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Should people who have an incurable disease be forced to join a registry?
It would be something similar to a sex offender registry, where people with diseases like HIV, HSV, ect, are forced by law report to the government their name and address. The data can be easily searched by the community via the internet or by visiting the local health department.
This could help reduce the spread of disease throughout the community by allowing people to search to see if the people they are encountering in the community are on the list. They can then choose to avoid contact with the infected people if they choose.
Imagine being able to look up the guy or girl you're flirting with at the bar quickly on your smart phone to see if they are known to carry HSV2.
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pros: people on the list would be known and the disease can be contained people gain knowledge that can protect them cons: people might not go get tested to avoid being put on the registry invasion of privacy prejudice against those on the list people on the list giving fake names The first con can be countered by making testing mandatory and maybe requiring retesting every few years. Doing this, though, would be costly. The 3rd could be countered by making laws against prejudice in most cases(the exceptions being giving them jobs in which the risk of them spreading the disease is elevated.) The privacy issue, however doesn't have a counter argument, and the situation boils down to the right to knowledge vs. the right to privacy. I probably would support something like this if it was done right, despite the cons.