An ethical assessment of the legal proscription of homosexuality on public health in Zambia.

Abstract

This study aimed to ethically assess the legal proscription of homosexuality on HIV/AIDS management in Zambia. Background information suggest that the legal proscription of homosexuality has failed in its duty to deter people from practicing homosexuality but has instead, led many that practice and identify themselves as homosexuals to exclusion from the HIV/AIDS agenda of the country through closeting. The Zambian public health challenges arising from effects of continued closeting of homosexuals, a population already at high risk for HIV infection, is yet to be established. Thus, the objectives of this study were: (i) to establish the interlinkage between homosexual behavior and HIV/AIDS; (ii) to investigate the effects of the legal proscription of homosexuality on homosexuals’ access to lifesaving HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care in Zambia; (iii) to investigate non legal proscription barriers to the provision of prevention, treatment and care goods and services to homosexuals in Zambia; and (iv) to assess the morality of legal proscription of homosexuality in Zambia using the Hohfeldian Moral Rights Theory. The study design was a qualitative survey. The methodology used was transcendental phenomenology as developed by Edmund Husserl. Based on a sample of ten participants, the data obtained was analysed by coding and grouping it according to common themes. The findings revealed that the homosexuals are denied access to life saving HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care services on the basis of the sexual orientation. However, this denial is inconsistent with the right to health that every human being has and hence the legal proscription not only compromises the health of homosexuals’ but also that of heterosexual. The study recommended a more somber approach to discussing the legal proscription of homosexuality in order to achieve a better understanding of its effects on HIV/AIDS management in Zambia.