A patient diagnosed with HIV reveals to their GP they have not disclosed this information to their partner. Discuss the ethical issues involved.

This is a typical medical interview question because it tests the students' knowledge of the four pillars of medical ethics - autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice. The first apect we have to address is the patients decision to not tell their partner. The patient should primarily be encouraged to tell their partner and the doctor should outline the risks of not telling them.
A patient's autonomy (decision given all the information) has to be respected by the doctor. However in a case like this, society could be put at risk by not telling the partner and confidentiality could be broken. This could harm the doctor patient relationship. This harm to the relationship contradicts the non-maleficence (not doing harm) aspect of the four pillars and should be considered by the doctor carefully. The care being provided to this patient should be in their interest and what the patient has said here should not affect their level of care (beneficence). Finally the doctor, having a duty to care for their patient, also has a duty to care for society in general (justice). This all needs to be weighed up and considered giving an informed conclusion.