Laws obstruct progress on HIV/AIDS front in Asia, UN says
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Avnish Jolly
Feb 16, 2011, 1:16:49 PM2/16/11
to SAFE - Social Action Foundation for Equity
Laws obstruct progress on HIV/AIDS front in Asia, UN says
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/health/news/article_1619686.php/Laws-obstruct-progress-on-HIV-AIDS-front-in-Asia-UN-says
Feb 16, 2011,
Bangkok - Legal barriers are obstructing the fight against HIV/AIDS in
the Asia, where 19 nations outlaw same-sex relations and 29 countries
criminalize prostitution, United Nations experts said Wednesday.
'In the Asia-Pacific region, and across the world, there are too many
examples of countries with laws, policies and practices that punish,
rather than protect people in need of HIV services,' said Michel
Sidibe, executive director of the Joint United Nations Programme on
HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).
Many Asian countries still imprison drug abusers and 10 of them impose
the death penalty for serious drug offenders.
Sidibe said that 30 years after the first cases of HIV were diagnosed,
90 per cent of the countries in the Asia-Pacific region still have
laws and practices that obstruct the rights of people living with HIV
or are at high risk of contracting the virus.
On Thursday, some 150 experts from 22 countries will attend the Global
Commission of HIV and the Law in Bangkok, launched in 2010 by the UN
to provide a forum on HIV-related legal and human rights issues.
In Asia, the commission is expected to focus on legal barriers to
greater access to anti-viral drugs.
'At least a third of the people living with HIV in developing
countries who need life-saving drugs are not getting them these days,'
said Jon Ungphakorn, a Thai social activist.
The former senator was at the forefront of Thailand's decision to
enforce compulsory licensing on several anti-viral drugs in 2006 and
2007 to facilitate the import of cheaper, generic drugs from India.
Compulsory licensing is a mechanism approved by the World Trade
Organization that allows countries to break intellectual property
rights laws on pharmaceuticals in case of a medical emergency.
Thailand has an estimated 600,000 people living with HIV/AIDS, most of
whom cannot afford anti-viral drug treatment.
Thailand was not brought to court for breaking intellectual property
rights laws in 2006, but the government was heavily criticised by the
US and European Union and by various multinational pharmaceutical
companies.
'Even now the European Union is negotiating a new trade agreement with
India which may result in making it more difficult for India to
produce generic drugs that are saving lives in developing countries,'
Jon said.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/health/news/article_1619686.php/Laws-obstruct-progress-on-HIV-AIDS-front-in-Asia-UN-says
Feb 16, 2011,
Bangkok - Legal barriers are obstructing the fight against HIV/AIDS in
the Asia, where 19 nations outlaw same-sex relations and 29 countries
criminalize prostitution, United Nations experts said Wednesday.
'In the Asia-Pacific region, and across the world, there are too many
examples of countries with laws, policies and practices that punish,
rather than protect people in need of HIV services,' said Michel
Sidibe, executive director of the Joint United Nations Programme on
HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).
Many Asian countries still imprison drug abusers and 10 of them impose
the death penalty for serious drug offenders.
Sidibe said that 30 years after the first cases of HIV were diagnosed,
90 per cent of the countries in the Asia-Pacific region still have
laws and practices that obstruct the rights of people living with HIV
or are at high risk of contracting the virus.
On Thursday, some 150 experts from 22 countries will attend the Global
Commission of HIV and the Law in Bangkok, launched in 2010 by the UN
to provide a forum on HIV-related legal and human rights issues.
In Asia, the commission is expected to focus on legal barriers to
greater access to anti-viral drugs.
'At least a third of the people living with HIV in developing
countries who need life-saving drugs are not getting them these days,'
said Jon Ungphakorn, a Thai social activist.
The former senator was at the forefront of Thailand's decision to
enforce compulsory licensing on several anti-viral drugs in 2006 and
2007 to facilitate the import of cheaper, generic drugs from India.
Compulsory licensing is a mechanism approved by the World Trade
Organization that allows countries to break intellectual property
rights laws on pharmaceuticals in case of a medical emergency.
Thailand has an estimated 600,000 people living with HIV/AIDS, most of
whom cannot afford anti-viral drug treatment.
Thailand was not brought to court for breaking intellectual property
rights laws in 2006, but the government was heavily criticised by the
US and European Union and by various multinational pharmaceutical
companies.
'Even now the European Union is negotiating a new trade agreement with
India which may result in making it more difficult for India to
produce generic drugs that are saving lives in developing countries,'
Jon said.
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