AEGiS-06IAC: Development and presentation of university level courses on HIV/AIDS policy and law.

6th International AIDS Conference


San Francisco, California, USA — June 20-23, 1990

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Development and presentation of university level courses on HIV/AIDS policy and law.

Int Conf AIDS 1990 Jun 20-23; 6:338 (abstract no. Th.D.848)
Closen M, Isaacman S; The John Marshall Law School, Chicago, Illinois, USA

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this project was to prepare a course outline and teaching materials to encourage an increase in the number of full-scale university courses on HIV/AIDS policy and law. Research indicates that university students (including law and medical students) are not adequately informed about HIV/AIDS, its modes of transmission, or risk reduction. Further, students regularly indicate a lack of compassion for PLWA's.

METHOD: We assembled a group of 10 individuals, each having experience in law and one or more other fields, such as medicine, social work, education, political science, and others. A coursebook of about 1,000 pages was prepared in 15 chapters, to correspond to the standard 14-15 week semester and to treat such topics as a brief history of infectious diseases, medical principles about HIV/AIDS, the politics of the epidemic, and public policy and legal issues.

RESULTS: The first HIV/AIDS coursebook AIDS: Cases and Materials was published in August of 1989. More than 20 law schools have agreed to adopt the book for classroom use, bringing the total number of law school courses on HIV/AIDS to approximately 35 to 40. In addition, there are a small number of university and medical school courses on HIV/AIDS. Many of these courses would not have been offered unless a coursebook were available.

CONCLUSION: The presence of a coursebook has already had a substantial impact on the development of full-scale university level courses on HIV/AIDS policy and law. However, we need far more attention given to the creation of such courses. With about 175 accredited law schools and more than 3,000 colleges and universities in the U.S. we have only begun this effort.

Keywords: AEGIS, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, Universities, Jurisprudence, Public Policy, Schools, HIV Infections, Students, Students, Medical, Schools, Medical, Health Policy, United States, legislation & jurisprudence, history, ICA6KWDaegis,acquiredimmunodeficiencysyndrome,universities,jurisprudence,publicpolicy,schools,hivinfections,students,students,medical,schools,medical,healthpolicy,unitedstates,legislation&jurisprudence,history,ica6

900620
ThD848

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