The National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD) is speaking out against HIV criminalization, The Michigan Messenger reports. NASTAD is comprised of health care leaders who deal with HIV/AIDS issues and programs funded by the state and federal governments. To tackle HIV criminalization, NASTAD listed the following goals: support the confidentiality of HIV tests and medical records; identify and share best practices that successfully repeal policies and statues that are not grounded in public health science; and provide leadership on the relative risks of transmission and the dangers of punitive responses to HIV exposure. Currently, 34 states and two U.S. territories have laws criminalizing HIV-positive people for activities including biting (though it’s not considered a transmission risk) to failing to disclose their HIV status before sex.

To read the Messenger article, click here.