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Mwansa Njelesani [ Profil ] |
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UN Secretary-General, the World AIDS Campaign and UNAIDS launch World AIDS Day theme ‘Universal Access and Hum an Rights’
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Jun 16th, 2009 - 10:36:41 |
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***UN Secretary-General, the World AIDS Campaign and UNAIDS launch World
AIDS Day theme Universal Access and Human Rights*
* * Ahead of this years World AIDS Day, the United Nations
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the World AIDS Campaign and the Joint United
Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) have come together to announce the
theme of Universal Access and Human Rights.
The theme has been chosen to address the critical need to protect human
rights and attain access for all to HIV prevention, treatment, care and
support. It also acts as a call to countries to remove laws that
discriminate against people living with HIV, women and marginalized groups.
Countries are also urged to realise the many commitments they made to
protect human rights in the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS (2001) and
the Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS (2006).
Speaking ahead of the announcement at the United Nations in New York, Michel
Sidibé Executive Director of UNAIDS said, "Achieving universal access to
prevention, treatment, care and support is a human rights imperative. It is
essential that the global response to the AIDS epidemic is grounded in human
rights and that discrimination and punitive laws against those most affected
by HIV are removed.
Many countries still have laws and policies that impede access to HIV
services and criminalize those most vulnerable to HIV. These include laws
that criminalize men who have sex with men, trangendered people and
lesbians; laws that criminalize sex workers; and laws criminalizing people
who use drugs and the harm reduction measures and substitution therapy they
need. Some 84 countries have reported that they have laws and policies that
act as obstacles to effective HIV prevention, treatment, care and support
for vulnerable populations.
Speaking from Cape Town, South Africa, The World AIDS Campaign Executive
Director Marcel van Soest said, The epidemic has not gone away, tens of
millions of people are still affected, but those hit the hardest, the poor
and marginalised in society often dont have a say when big decisions and
laws are made. Their fundamental right to essential health care and life
free from fear of stigma and discrimination must be strengthened.
Governments continue to pass and enforce overly-broad laws that criminalize
the transmission of HIV which are in direct contradiction to their
commitments to promote
. a social and legal environment that is supportive
of safe and voluntary disclosure of HIV status.
Some 59 countries still have laws that restrict the entry, stay and
residence of people living with HIV based on their positive HIV status only,
discriminating against them in their freedom of movement and right to work.
At the same time, laws and regulations protecting people with HIV from
discrimination and women from gender inequality and sexual violence are not
fully implemented or enforced.
The World AIDS Campaign Chairperson, Allyson Leacock added, The Human
Rights theme is about us, about communities, about people like you and me
and our governments making a commitment to honour and respect the dignity of
the vulnerable and to those already living with HIV.
For more information please contact
Royston Martin
Head of Media and Communications
World AIDS Campaign
royston (at) worldaidscampaign.org
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