Publications

At the G8 Summit in July 2005, the leaders of the richest industrialized nations, including Canada, pledged to develop and implement a comprehensive response to AIDS with the goal of achieving universal access to HIV/AIDS treatment by 2010. Despite some gains, this goal is still far from being achieved. Sustained action will be required to … Read more

Re: Drug Use, HIV, Overdose and Harm Reduction: Articles 2, 12 and 15.1.b People who use illicit drugs are vulnerable to a wide range of negative health consequences as a result of that use …. In addition to the health risks related to HIV and hepatitis C infections, opiate overdose has been reported as the … Read more

“We are people living with HIV, researchers, service-providers and community organizations working to prevent the spread of HIV and ensure care, treatment and support for those living with HIV, here at home and abroad. We call on you to ensure that these funds will remain committed to strengthening the response to HIV, and to ensure … Read more

“We are deeply concerned at an alarming global trend of laws that explicitly target and/or directly or indirectly impact women’s right to control their sexuality and reproduction. Through such legislation, women’s rights are being violated and traditional gender norms are being reinforced, with governments strictly policing women’s bodies and choices…. This submission briefly addresses the … Read more

In February 2010, a varied group of legal experts on intellectual property law and access to medicines from North America, Africa and Europe were brought together at the UNDP headquarters in New York City to discuss inter alia whether the reforms proposed to Canada’s Access to Medicines Regime (CAMR) by Bill C‐393 are compliant with … Read more

What do people in prison have to say about the Canadian government’s unwillingness to permit the distribution of clean needles in prison? Between 2008 and 2009, interviews were conducted in person and over the phone in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, resulting in sworn affidavits or testimonials from 50 … Read more

“We, the undersigned organizations, write to express our deep concern at the imprisonment and prosecution of Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga under provisions of Malawi’s penal code criminalizing private sexual behaviour. We further call on Malawian authorities to drop all charges against both men and repeal sections 153 and 156 of the penal law.”

In this article, which is based on a public lecture he gave at the 1st Annual Symposium on HIV, Law and Human Rights, held June 12 – 13, 2009 in Toronto, Canada, South African Constitutional Court Justice Edwin Cameron analyzes the surge in criminal prosecutions, discusses the role that stigma plays in these prosecutions and … Read more

Harm reduction measures aimed at preventing HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmission in prisons are neither new nor groundbreaking in Canada. Prison systems have implemented, to varying degrees, forms of harm reduction such as condoms, bleach and methadone maintenance treatment. However, as of September 2008, no Canadian jurisdiction had established a prison-based needle and … Read more