The HIV Epidemic The HIV epidemic has posed two powerful, and conflicting, legal and ethical obligations. The first obligation is to respect the privacy of persons with HIV infection. The threat of stigma and discrimination has had a profound impact on the extent to which persons living with HIV/AIDS have demanded ironclad legal protections of confidentiality. The Hippocratic oath advises physicians "to tell no secret" obtained in the course of the therapeutic relationship. The second obligation is the duty to inform persons who may be exposed to HIV. The public claims the right to know if their sexual or needle-sh