Intentionally infecting another person with HIV may become a criminal offence in England and Wales under proposals being considered by the government. A draft bill due to be published later this year, to amend the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act, will be based on a Law Commission report from 1993 which recommended that the 'intentional or reckless' transmission of disease should be made an offence. Similar laws have been enacted in countries including Denmark, Finland and Sweden - and in some states of the US. In Sweden, people who are HIV positive can be quarantined if they are deemed incapable of taking preventive measures against transmitting the disease.
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