Update

Harnessing human rights for the AIDS response

18 January 2018

A special section on HIV and human rights has been published in the Health and Human Rights Journal. Eleven papers—covering issues such as HIV-related stigma and discrimination, gender inequality and the effects of the abuse and criminalization of key populations—offer critical reflections on the AIDS response and call for renewed efforts to confront legal, social and structural barriers in order to realize better health for all.

The papers leverage the experience of the HIV response and give innovative and practical approaches to expanding human rights programmes and access to treatment and for integrating human rights in work on eliminating diseases.

The special section conveys the simple message that there will be no end to AIDS without efforts to build on the rights-based lessons of the past. It also emphasizes that there is a need to find innovative ways to expand protections, promote gender equality, support civil society and community engagement, strengthen accountability and close the inclusion gap.

The special section is accessible at https://www.hhrjournal.org/volume-19-issue-2-december-2017/

Quotes

“The journal special section on health and human rights describes and reflects on the progress made in realizing human rights as an imperative for health. It allows us to reflect on how the HIV epidemic has transformed our understanding of the structural, legal, and social determinants of health and the approaches to address them.”

Michel Sidibé UNAIDS Executive Director

Publications

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