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Abstract

This article explores HIV-specific laws in Central America: why they exist, where their terms come from, what choices have been made, and what the laws do. Part I outlines the influential work and standards of the U.N. and USAID. Part II presents contours of debate over AIDS law and policy in the United States. Part III reports on the HIV epidemics in Central America. Part IV compares the Central American laws, applying some of the lessons and theories presented in earlier Parts. The article concludes that HIV laws in the region do not function to provide the basis for claims of individual rights or impositions of responsibilities, the way U.S. laws often have. Rather, the Central American laws represent national aspirations toward a reasonable response to the epidemics. Central American aspirations toward safeguarding individual rights, while tracking heightening international standards, nonetheless are profoundly challenged as the epidemic is measured and expands: the law in Nicaragua, with its very low measured incidence of HIV infection, is very “rights” oriented, while the law in Honduras, where HIV incidence is relatively high, is very “duties” oriented.

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