Political, Legal Discrimination Increases HIV Infection: UN Chief

A new UN progress report on the 2001 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS finds governments have failed to take sufficient political, legal, and programmatic steps needed to bolster public health responses to the disease.

Despite unanimous agreement that respect for the rights of people with HIV/AIDS is critical to prevention efforts, almost a third of the 192 UN member states lack laws that protect people living with the disease, the report found. Some 60 countries have visa or residency restrictions for HIV-positive persons.

"Not only are such restrictions discriminatory, but they may also have devastating consequences for individuals seeking to migrate, obtain asylum, reunite with family, study, do business or participate in conferences on HIV policy and practice," the report said. Tajikistan recently dropped its restrictions, and the governments of China, Namibia, and the United States are taking steps to remove these barriers, it noted.

The criminalization of HIV transmission continues through "broadly and ill-defined laws," the report said. In 2007 and 2008, more than 15 African nations adopted such laws, reinforcing "the idea that people living with HIV are dangerous and undeserving of social solidarity."

According to the report, stigma and gender inequity continue to increase the vulnerabilities of those most at risk for HIV, making them less inclined to seek testing or treatment. In 2007, more than 90 countries prohibited consensual sex between same-sex adults, it said.

In positive news, China, Iran, Ukraine, Malaysia, and Vietnam are increasing access to drug-substitution therapy, "heeding evidence that such therapy helps reduce HIV transmission among injecting drug users," said the report.

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