AIDS 2008 Global Village: Human Rights Networking Zone - Daily Human Rights Summary: 5 August

It is no easy task to give an overview of the human rights related sessions at the AIDS conference today. There were more than 30 such sessions, starting for 7 am and running until late in the evening. These sessions covered numerous different topics such as drug use and policy, women’s rights, MSM, HIV testing, indigenous populations, discrimination and stigma, prevention, travel restrictions, sex work, prisons, intellectual property and treatment, and criminalization. All this reflects just how central human rights are to the response to HIV.

There is one theme that really jumped out from today’s sessions: the fact that many human rights problems are related to the failure of governments to base HIV policies in scientific evidence. The title of one of today’s sessions aptly summarized this theme: “Research-based public policy: Why is it not the gold standard?”

That question was discussed throughout the day in various different sessions. Sandra Chu of the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network spoke about the refusal of the Canadian government to allow needle exchange programs in prison even though there is consistent evidence that such programs are feasible, effective in prevention HIV transmission, and have no negative side effects. During a session on travel restrictions for people living with HIV, participants decried the fact that although there is no evidence that travel restrictions have a positive public health impact, 67 countries still have restrictions in place. US Congresswoman Barbara Lee spoke at the session about her efforts to overturn the US travel ban but also, in response to questions, said that she would work with the new US president to get rid of various other policies that have no foundation in scientific evidence, including the prostitution pledge, abstinence only programs, and the ban on federal funding for needle exchange programs. I spoke about the Russian drug dependence treatment system which prohibits the use of methadone for the treatment of drug users, even though there is overwhelming evidence that substitution treatment is one of the most effective drug treatment modalities at our disposal today. Finally, there was a session on the criminalization of HIV transmission.

There were several sessions that dealt with drug use and policy issues. During the first, at 7 am, colleagues from Brazil, Russia, Ukraine and Indonesia shared their experiences of best practices in providing ART to injection drug users. In an afternoon soon on law enforcement and drug use, speakers addressed obstacles to ART for drug users in Thailand and forced treatment for drug users.

There also were several sessions on women’s rights issues. Two discussed the importance to address domestic violence against women. A third examined the needs of women in the context of PEPFAR.

During a session on HIV testing, Ralf Jürgens spoke about the human rights imperative of dramatically scaling up access to HIV testing but stressed the need to ensure that this scale up is done in a way that ensures people’s human rights. He argued that states must respect consent, confidentiality and counseling, must offer meaningful linkages to other HIV-related health services, including treatment and prevention, and have to create a policy framework that protects people who test positive against stigma and discrimination. A woman from Bolivia told a personal story that underscored the importance of respecting human rights in HIV testing. A rape victim, the woman’s sister had, without her knowledge, authorized doctors to test her for HIV. When she learned her status against her will, she said she felt like her sister had robbed her of the right to enjoy life.

Another afternoon session was dedicated to reproductive and sexual health issues. Shaun Mollis called on governments, donors and foundations to step up to the plate on these issues. Veronika Kalambi of ICW discussed research on forced sterilization of women in Namibia. She recounted how women had been told to sign consent forms that they did not understand or were pressured to consent to sterilization. She also said that two cases are currently pending before the courts in Namibia.

During the plenary, in the morning, human rights were also repeatedly raised. One plenary speaker stated that HIV prevention efforts must be based on best practice evidence. Another spoke about the importance of methadone in prison. The third discussed the need to fight homophobia.

Finally, there was plenty of activity in the human rights networking zone. In the morning, Rebecca Schleifer of Human Rights Watch held a training session on human rights documentation. In the afternoon there was a lively discussion on drug policy issues, and after that Anand Grover, the new special rapporteur on the right to health, spoke of his vision for the mandate. He stressed repeatedly that he wanted NGOs to see him as a vehicle to put human rights issues on the agenda and strongly encouraged communities to be in touch with him about their concerns.