The April 2007 UNAIDS Guidance Note: HIV and Sex Work (“the Guidance Note”) is inconsistent with previous UN statements on the central importance of respecting, protecting and fulfilling the rights of sex workers in programs and policies related to sex work and HIV. The Guidance Note fails to consider seriously the precarious human rights situation … Read more
“We write with regard to the government’s review of Canada’s Access to Medicines Regime (CAMR), currently underway, and to share you with some highlights of findings from a recent international consultation our organizations co-hosted to examine CAMR and related issues. . . . “The full report of the Expert Consultation will follow in due course, … Read more
“As one of the civil society organizations that has been actively engaged over several years in policy discussions with the federal government regarding the issue of intellectual property law and access to affordable medicines in developing countries — and in particular the provisions of Canada’s Access to Medicines Regime (CAMR) — we write to raise … Read more
“I am writing to urge you to reconsider the termination of the Safer Crack Use Initiative, as decided by City Council on July 11, 2007. “Opposition to this program is based in part on the mistaken belief that it contravenes the law . . . . We wish to explain how the distribution of safer … Read more
“As has been reported repeatedly in international media, since 1990 China has ‘celebrated’ the International Day by executing persons convicted of drug crimes. These executions are often held in public venues, such as stadiums, and sometimes shown on television. In addition to the basic due-process questions and other human rights concerns raised by these executions … Read more
Canada’s Access to Medicines Regime is not delivering on the country’s pledge to help developing countries get affordable medicines. The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network recommends a number of changes that will help fix the current, flawed Regime. Our central recommendation would replace the existing process for obtaining a compulsory licence with something considerably more streamlined … Read more
“We write to draw to your attention the important health implications of Budget 2007, specifically the allocations for the federal strategy on illicit drugs and the striking absence of any budgetary support for harm reduction measures.”
“The new national anti-drug strategy announced in the federal budget ignores the impressive body of scientific evidence on the value of investing in harm reduction and alternatives to criminal prosecution for non-violent drug offences. The new strategy funds law enforcement, prevention and treatment programs — three of the four so-called “pillars” common in many drug … Read more
“[W]e write to encourage you to continue showing Canada’s commitment to address the global HIV/AIDS crisis when you participate in the G8 development and cooperation Ministers meeting on March 27 and 28 in Berlin, Germany. “Prior to the International AIDS Conference in Toronto last summer, GTAG developed a four-point action plan recommending steps CIDA and … Read more
People who are particularly vulnerable to HIV are in many countries the first to be targeted by counterterrorism and security measures, says Executive Director Joanne Csete in this commentary published in The Lancet on March 3, 2007.