The management of AIDS in South African schools

Abstract

According to the Third National Survey conducted among women attending antenatal clinics in South Africa, 120,000 more people are estimated to have become infected with HIV since 1991 (Kustner, 1993a:34). Pupils and schools cannot be isolated from this serious health hazard in our country. In this article the relationship o f confidentiality between a doctor and his patient is compared to the relationship between a pupil and a teacher. The question arises as to whether a teacher (i.e. the school principal) should be allowed to breach this confidence by revealing to the staff of his school the fa c t that a pupil is HIV-infected. Under certain circumstances the public interest in preserving human life outweighs the HIV-infected pupil's right to privacy.