HIV and the Law: Integrating Law, Policy, and Social Epidemiology

Abstract

This article will consider first how laws in the United States could plausibly act as pathways, or mechanisms, by which deeper social determinants affect health, specifically HIV risk and resilience. Next, it will address the role of law in shaping those determinants themselves. For each example, we will ask the following questions: (1) how do law and policy link with risk; (2) what evidence supports this link; (3) what conclusions can we draw from the relationship between law/policy and risk; and (4) based on these conclusions, what policy options or research questions can we identify that will enhance the use of law/policy as a structural intervention. The article does not specifically address the role of law in HiV in the developing world, where the vast majority of the estimated 40 million people currently living with HIV reside