Page 1974 - Week 07 - Thursday, 20 August 1992
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MINISTER FOR HEALTH
LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY QUESTION
QUESTION 235
Health Care Workers - HIV Transmission
Mrs Carnell - asked the Minister for Health
Will the ACT Government introduce similar guidelines to those in the recently released policies of the New South Wales Government (the New South Wales Infection Control Policy for HIV, AIDS and Associated Conditions; and a new Department of Health Policy on HIV and Hepatitis B infected Health Care Workers) which, amongst other things aim to ensure that health care workers infected with HIV or AIDS do not . t the disease to patients. If not, why not; if so, when.
Mr Berry - the answer to Mrs Carnells question is as follows:
Following the recommendations of the Intergovernmental Committee on AIDS and the
Australian Health Ministers Advisory Council, the Australian Health Ministers
Conference in April this year endorsed a set of principles for a national policy on HIV infected health care workers. These principles included
"adherence to proper infection control procedures is the most important step in minimising the risk of HIV transmission from health care workers to patients
mandatory roosting is not an appropriate response to the issue of HIV infected health care workers
mandatory reporting of a health care workers HIV states to their employer, registration board or him authority is not supported. If any such action is taken it mast be consistent with the reporting requirements for other illnesses or impairments likely to affect professional practice".
As a member of the Australian Health Ministers conference, I support these principles and the development of national guidelines.
I would like to draw the Assemblys attention to the fact that the risk of HIV transmission from as HIV positive health cane worker to a patient is extremely low and in Australia there are no known cases of this type of transmission.
1974
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