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Bad laws and customs are hindering
an effective response to HIV/AIDS globally, an independent commission reported
Monday. Comprising former heads of state and internationally renowned HIV
experts, the Global Commission on HIV and the Law based its new report on
“extensive research and first-hand accounts from more than 1,000 people in 140
countries.”
Specific issues cited by the report
include:
*Criminalizing homosexual acts, sex
work, interventions targeting injecting drug users, and HIV exposure,
non-disclosure and/or transmission;
*Denying the rights of women and
girls, hampering their ability to negotiate safe sex;
*Denying youths access to sex
education;
*Intellectual property restrictions
that can make it impossible to provide inexpensive AIDS drugs to people needing
them.
Legal practices that affirm bias
impede access to HIV testing and treatment by high-risk populations, the report
says.
“Too many countries waste vital
resources by enforcing archaic laws that ignore science and perpetuate stigma,”
said Fernando Henrique Cardoso, a former president of Brazil and chair of the
commission. “We have the chance to free future generations from the threat of
HIV. We cannot allow injustice and intolerance to undercut this progress.”
“There have been over 600
HIV-positive cases of convictions in some 24 countries over the last number of
years for transmission and non-disclosure, and the majority of those lie in the
United States and Canada,” said Stephen Lewis, co-founder of AIDS-Free World.
As many as 34 states have such laws, said US Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), who
has authored a bill to remove them from the books.
[PNU editor’s note: To access the
report, visit: http://www.hivlawcommission.org/.]
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!
