Today is Human Rights Day, the 56th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the last of this year’s 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence. It is also a day on which intolerable numbers of women will suffer violent assaults, and on which many will be infected with HIV.

UNAIDS acknowledges with tremendous sense of loss the tragic news of the sudden death of Paulo Longo, Coordinator of the Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP) in Brazil and human rights activist.

UNAIDS is deeply shocked at the recent killing of FannyAnn Eddy, a leading pan-African gay rights activist and founder of the Sierra Leone Lesbian and Gay Association (SLLAGA).

AIDS activists from around the world, representing different movements, today called for concerted action aimed at ramping up HIV/AIDS health care services in low and middle-income countries.

Discrimination against women, both legal and de facto, renders them disproportionately vulnerable to HIV/AIDS. Women's subordination in the family and in public life is one of the root causes of the rapidly increasing rate of infection among women. Systematic discrimination based on gender also impairs women's ability to deal with the consequences of their own infection and/or infection in the family, in social, economic and personal terms.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic poses serious human rights challenges - for example, unequal access to HIV/AIDS-related treatments remains a global reality. If countries are seriously committed to protecting the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, then this inequality must be addressed. The problem is urgent. In poor countries, millions of people with HIV/AIDS need antiretroviral treatment immediately and very few of these are on antiretroviral treatment. Without accelerated prevention and treatment the AIDS epidemic will continue destroying communities, health care systems and economies, placing a shadow upon the future of entire countries.

Today, on Human Rights Day, three UN agencies are launching a colourful, interactive cartoon booklet called “HIV/AIDS Stand Up for Human Rights”. The cartoon is part of a global campaign to tackle HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discrimination and other human rights violations.

GENEVA, 31 July 2013—The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) expresses deep concern over the reintroduction of a Sanitary Decree in Greece that could lead to infringements of human rights and prevent people from accessing HIV services.

There is no evidence that punitive approaches—particularly those that single out members of key populations––are effective in responding to HIV. On the contrary, such measures deter people most affected by HIV from accessing lifesaving HIV prevention and care services.

Initially introduced in April 2012, the Sanitary Decree allows for “specific control” and “screening” measures against sex workers, migrants and people who use drugs. Shortly after the Decree was introduced a number of sex workers were arrested, detained, tested for HIV, prosecuted and their photographs published.

The Sanitary Decree was repealed in April 2013; however, the government reintroduced the Decree in June this year. UNAIDS is very concerned that the reintroduction of this legislation, with the same provisions, could serve to justify actions that violate human rights.

UNAIDS urges the Greek authorities to repeal the Sanitary Decree and initiate dialogue with health experts, civil society organizations and other relevant stakeholders to develop appropriate evidence-informed and rights-based public health regulations. All people—including sex workers and their clients, people who use drugs, migrants and asylum-seekers—should have access to voluntary and confidential HIV services and be protected against discrimination.

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners to maximize results for the AIDS response. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.

GENEVA, 10 December 2012—On the occasion of Human Rights Day, there is evidence that global solidarity and shared responsibility are expanding people’s right to health across the world. More than half the people in need of antiretroviral treatment are now receiving it, far fewer people are dying from AIDS-related illnesses, 25 countries have reduced new HIV infections by more than 50% and new HIV treatment and prevention science promise yet more results.

But AIDS is far from over and there are still major challenges to reaching people with life-saving HIV services. People living with HIV have fought for and gained impressive recognition of their right to non-discrimination. However zero discrimination in the response to HIV is far from being achieved. HIV-related discrimination continues to impact the lives of many people living with HIV, and still prevents millions of people from coming forward to test for HIV and access prevention and treatment services.

Effective programmes and protective laws can overcome discrimination and marginalization in the context of HIV. But many of the people most affected by the epidemic remain marginalized and criminalized––sex workers, people who use drugs, men who have sex with men and transgender people. They are unable to benefit from their rights to health, non-discrimination and freedom from violence.  As the world strives to achieve zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths, efforts must be doubled to realize the rights of all people affected by HIV. 

This International Human Rights Day is dedicated to the principle of inclusion and the right to participate in public life. We need to work to ensure that all members of society have the opportunity to fully realize their rights to health, dignity and security in a world with HIV.

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Key elements to ensuring a rights-based approach to HIV include:

• Strong and supportive links to care and treatment must be included in HIV testing programmes;
• Efforts to expand treatment must ensure access to the right medicines at the right time, including second line medicines that in many places remain prohibitively expensive;
• Health systems need to be strengthened to become places of care and support, not denial and discrimination;
• Communities and civil society also need to be strengthened and resourced to work in synergy with health services;
• A wide range of HIV prevention services must be made available, especially to young people who are often denied their rights to information and services about HIV and sexuality;
• Women living with HIV must be able to fully exercise their reproductive and sexual health rights;
• And punitive laws must be replaced by protective ones.

GENEVA, 9 December 2011—On the occasion of Human Rights Day, 10 December, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) is calling on countries to protect, promote and uphold human rights for all people living with and vulnerable to HIV.

Violence against women and girls; stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV or people vulnerable to HIV infection; punitive approaches to key populations at higher risk of infection; criminalization based on sexual orientation and gender identity; and HIV-related restrictions on entry, stay and residence not only violate human rights but also act as barriers to accessing HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services.

“Respect for human rights is a non-negotiable requirement for the AIDS response,” said Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director. “Only through dignity and equality can we promote a socially sustainable agenda.” 

An estimated 76 countries and areas have laws that criminalize same-sex sexual relations between consenting adults––five impose the death penalty. More than 100 countries criminalize some aspect of sex work, and most States have policies or laws that result in people dependent on drugs being subject to criminal penalties. In addition, 47 countries continue to impose some form of restriction on the entry, stay and residence of people living with HIV.

In March 2011, the UN Human Rights Council urged all States to eliminate ‘criminal and other laws that are counterproductive to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support efforts, including laws directly mandating disclosure of HIV status or that violate the human rights of people living with HIV and members of key populations’. It also urged States to enact laws to protect people affected by HIV from discrimination, abuses and violence while accessing HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services.

In the 2011 United Nations Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS, countries reaffirmed their commitment to promote universal respect for, and the observance of, all human rights in their responses to HIV. The declaration noted that HIV prevention strategies inadequately focus on populations at higher risk—specifically men who have sex with men, people who inject drugs and sex workers, and called on countries to focus their response based on epidemiological and national contexts.