Publications

“On behalf of our more than 200 members, including front-line AIDS service organizations and people living with HIV/AIDS, I am writing to applaud your recent statements supporting supervised injection sites. . . . I urge you and your caucus to continue to stand up and speak out for Insite. Canadians deserve to know how successful … Read more

Canada’s Access to Medicines Regime (CAMR) is failing to meet its goals. Most people living with HIV/AIDS continue to be denied life-saving treatment, in part due to the high costs of patented drugs. The need for affordable medicines is clear; and Canada must ensure that the CAMR fulfills its humanitarian goals.

“We write in response to the Consultation Paper released in November 2006 as part of the government’s review of what is now described as ‘Canada’s Access to Medicines Regime’ (CAMR), the legislative scheme under the Patent Act and the Food and Drugs Act to enable compulsory licensing of patented pharmaceuticals for the purpose of exporting … Read more

In 2005, courts in the United Kingdom dismissed a prisoner’s case against the British government. The prisoner was seeking a court order to force the government to implement sterile syringe programs in prisons as a measure to reduce the risk of infection with blood-borne diseases such as HIV through the sharing of drug injection equipment. … Read more

About three-quarters of the resources of Canada’s Drug Strategy are directed towards enforcement-related efforts, despite a lack of scientific evidence to support this approach and little, if any, evaluation of the impacts of this investment. In this feature article, the authors report on a study that examined expenditures and activities related to the Drug Strategy … Read more

More than two years since Canada enacted the Jean Chrétien Pledge to Africa, no generic medication produced under compulsory license has yet been exported from Canada. In this feature article, Richard Elliott describes attempts by two Canadian generic pharmaceutical companies to navigate the complicated and unwieldy processes established under the Act, and, noting the government’s … Read more

In this feature article, Kora DeBeck, Evan Wood, Julio Montaner and Thomas Kerr report on a study that examined expenditures and activities related to the Drug Strategy as renewed in 2003. The article reviews the effectiveness of the Strategy in light of current scientific evidence pertaining to the reduction of drug-related harm. The authors find … Read more

In this feature article, Ann Hilton Fisher, Catherine Hanssens and David I. Schulman (from the ABA) analyze the new guidelines on HIV testing from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and find them wanting. The authors argue that the CDC’s recommendation to do away with specific written informed consent for HIV tests … Read more

FEATURES Canada’s 2003 renewed drug strategy — an evidence-based review Will they deliver treatment access?: WTO rules and Canada’s law on generic medicine exports The CDC’s routine HIV testing recommendation: legally, not so routine CANADIAN DEVELOPMENTS Supervised injection facility granted time-limited extension Federal prison guards call for power to test prisoners for HIV Sex workers: … Read more

In this issue: AGM honours Jamaican hero, Stella, offers rights-centred workshops Missing the point: Ottawa cancels pilot prison tattooing program Legal Network calls for reforms to law on generic medicine exports Minster of Health reviewing Federal Initiative on HIV/AIDS Commons report on prostitution fails sex workers Nairobi consultation on women’s rights Legal Network testifies before … Read more