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A group of doctors and advocates are pushing to change Ohio's laws around HIV

This 2011 electron microscope image made available by the Centers for Disease Control shows HIV virions. On Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2019, scientists are reporting the first use of the gene-editing tool CRISPR to try to cure a patient's HIV infection by providing blood cells that have been altered to resist the AIDS virus.
Maureen Metcalfe, Tom Hodge; AP
/
CDC
This 2011 electron microscope image made available by the Centers for Disease Control shows HIV virions.

Ohio laws passed in the 1990s levy felony charges for those who don’t disclose their HIV status to their sexual partners — an attempt to slow the spread of a deadly disease.

But critics say these laws are outdated and have big problems — including penalizing behaviors that don’t pose a risk of transmitting HIV and the difficulty faced by a person with the virus proving that they did in fact notify their partner about their status.

Now, a coalition of doctors and advocates calling themselves the Ohio Health Modernization Movement says treatment options have turned HIV from a death sentence into a manageable chronic condition. That group is working to convince Ohio to join nine other states that have modernized or repealed similar laws.

Joining Cincinnati Edition to discuss that effort are UC Health Professor of Infectious Diseases Dr. Carl Fichtenbaum; Caracole Education, Outreach and Testing Manager Adam Reilly; and Cincinnati resident Jerry Bedford, who has lived with HIV since the 1980s.

Listen to Cincinnati Edition live at noon M-F. Audio for this segment will be uploaded after 4 p.m. ET.

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