Publication Type: Briefing Papers

Legislation to Authorize Forced Testing of Federal Prisoners for HIV: An Unjustified Violation of Human Rights

This submission explains why legislation authorizing the forced testing of federal prisoners for HIV, hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) should not be introduced or supported by the Government of Canada. Briefly stated, legislation authorizing the forced testing of people (i.e., without the individual’s informed consent) does not represent an appropriately balanced … Read more

Intellectual Property and Access to HIV/AIDS Treatment – Case Studies

Until now, India, Brazil and Thailand have been among the biggest generic ARV producers, both for their own people and for export. This production has been crucial for the supply of affordable treatment in the developing world. It has resulted in competition between producers, which has reduced the price of many ARVs from as much … Read more

Outcomes of the Symposium on HIV Testing and Human Rights

There are increasing calls by public health authorities and policy-makers to modify or abandon the well-established model of voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) for HIV in favour of models that do not necessarily preserve the elements of informed consent, pre- and post-test counselling and confi dentiality of test results. This report summarizes the conclusions of … Read more

Mandatory Minimum Sentences for Drug Offences: Why Everyone Loses

There has recently been a movement on the part of the newly elected federal government to consider mandatory sentences and stiff penalties for drug offenders. However, scientific evidence indicates that mandatory minimum sentences only worsen the health-related harms associated with incarceration by increasing the transmission of infectious disease in prisons.

Facing up to an epidemic: drug policy in Canada

Canada is facing a public health crisis with respect to injection drug use. Rates of blood borne infections among people who inject drugs increased during the 1990s at an alarming rate. By 1996, almost half of all new HIV diagnoses were in people who inject drugs. Since 1997, the proportion of new HIV infections annually … Read more

HIV Disclosure and the Criminal Law in Canada: Responding to the Media and the Public

The purpose of this briefing note is to give community-based AIDS organizations (CBAOs) information to help them respond to media questions and other inquiries. The information in this Briefing Note is intended to provide responses that are positive and constructive, and respect people living with HIV. The information contained in this Briefing Note is “brief.” … Read more