- HIV and Health Law
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Program Context The international community recognizes that every country's legal and policy environment is of paramount importance to its response to the HIV epidemic. In the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS (2001), UN Member States acknowledged that ‘legal factors are hampering awareness, education, prevention, care, treatment and support efforts.’ They therefore agreed to ‘enact, strengthen or enforce as appropriate legislation and other measures’ to eliminate discrimination against people living with HIV (PLHIV) and vulnerable groups.* Member States stressed the importance of the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in the context of HIV, and specifically the human rights of women. The importance of human rights monitoring systems was also noted. Member states welcomed the efforts of countries to promote innovation and the development of domestic industries consistent with international law in order to increase access to medicines, including generic drugs. The importance of enabling legal frameworks was also noted in the context of HIV in the workplace. UNAIDS has established a monitoring system to measure States’ progress in meeting their commitments. Yet by 2007, few countries had taken steps to reform their legal frameworks consistent with international guidelines and best practice, and 64% of countries responding to a 2007 survey reported that they still have one or more laws in place that impede access to services. In those countries which have appropriate legal frameworks, implementation is generally weak. Legal system actors (police, lawyers, prosecutors, judges) are inadequately trained, and PLHIV and vulnerable groups are often unaware of their rights. There are isolated examples of emerging good practices (e.g. Philippines, India, South Africa, Venezuela, Vietnam), but these have been inadequately documented and there has been no harmonization of approaches and little sharing of materials. Requests for technical assistance frequently exceed the capacity of agencies to respond and, worse, some technical assistance has been provided which is contrary to UN guidance and international best practice (e.g. law reform in West Africa). Some good work has been done by NGOs and private sector consulting firms, however institutional memory is not guaranteed and opportunities for scale up have not been exploited. Building capacity to protect and promote health through law:
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