GENEVA, 6 November 2014—UNAIDS welcomes Namibia’s Supreme Court decision to uphold the Namibian High Court finding that three women living with HIV were subjected to coercive sterilization in public hospitals without their informed consent.

“This is a great victory for all women in Namibia and the world. This decision reinforces the right to sexual and reproductive health for all women, irrespective of their HIV status,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé.

The Supreme Court’s dismissal of the appeal follows the 30 July 2012 ruling of the High Court of Namibia—in the first formal court case of its kind in Africa—that medical practitioners have a “legal duty to obtain informed consent from a patient” and that the health service provider could not forcibly obtain consent during labour.  

UNAIDS worked closely with civil society and other key partners in the AIDS response in Namibia to ensure that the voices of the women affected were heard. UNAIDS calls on countries to investigate and address all reported cases of forced sterilization as well as other legal and social practices violating the basic rights of all people in health-care systems.

Women and girls, irrespective of their HIV status, should have access to information and be empowered to exercise their sexual and reproductive health rights. UNAIDS will continue to mobilize governments and communities to ensure that everyone has access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services. 

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

GENEVA, 1 August 2014—UNAIDS welcomes the decision of Uganda’s Constitutional Court to overturn the law that called for a 14-year jail term for a first conviction, and imprisonment for life for ‘aggravated homosexuality’. Challenged by 10 petitioners including civil society, parliamentarians and academics, the law was annulled by the Court over a lack of quorum when the bill was passed.

“This is a great day for social justice,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “The rule of law has prevailed.”

UNAIDS urges the protection and safety of all people seeking health services. While homosexuality remains illegal in Uganda annulling the law could have positive public health implications. Studies show that when gay men and other men who have sex with men face discrimination including abuse, incarceration and prosecution—they are less likely to seek HIV testing, prevention and treatment services.

“President Yoweri Museveni had personally indicated to me—that he wants Uganda to accelerate its AIDS response to ensure all people have access to life-saving services,” said Mr Sidibé.

UNAIDS urges all governments around the world, to protect the human rights of lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender people through repealing criminal laws against adult consensual same sex sexual conduct; implementing laws to protect people from violence and discrimination; promoting campaigns that address homophobia and transphobia; and ensuring access to health services including HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services.

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

HIV treated as other chronic conditions in immigration health assessment.

GENEVA, 10 July 2014—UNAIDS welcomes confirmation from the Government of Australia that people living with HIV do not face an automatic exclusion, or unequal treatment when applying for entry, stay or residence visas. People living with HIV are treated similarly to other people with chronic health conditions and disabilities during the country’s immigration health assessment process. Applications for visas from people living with HIV will be assessed against criteria applying to anyone with a chronic health condition.

The announcement came ahead of the 20th International AIDS Conference, which will take place in Melbourne, Australia, from 20 to 25 July 2014.

“People living with HIV need equal opportunity to contribute to and benefit from today’s globalized world, where migration is increasingly important. Eliminating travel restrictions is not only a human right for individuals, it improves business prospects for communities,” said the Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibé.

UNAIDS advocates for the right to equal freedom of movement, regardless of HIV status. There is no evidence that restrictions on the entry, stay or residence of people living with HIV protect the public’s health. In 2012, more than 40 chief executives from some of the world’s largest companies signed a pledge opposing HIV restrictions, calling them discriminatory and bad for business.

As part of its ongoing dialogue with countries on this issue, UNAIDS has sent communications to all countries, territories and areas that appear to have HIV-related entry, stay and residence restrictions, and has raised the issue during official high-level visits. Australia has made important reforms to its migration health assessment requirements and procedures since the conclusion of a parliamentary inquiry on migration and disability in 2010, including an annual increase to the “significant cost threshold”, the elimination of the cost assessment related to health services for humanitarian visa applicants and improvements to increase the transparency of the health assessment process. These reforms were assessed against the criteria outlined by the International Task Team on HIV-related Travel Restrictions, co-chaired by the Government of Norway and UNAIDS,  and it was concluded that Australia had met the task team’s standard.

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners to maximize results for the AIDS response. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.

MELBOURNE/GENEVA, 18 July 2014—UNAIDS expresses deep sadness over the loss of life of the passengers and crew of flight MH17, which crashed over eastern Ukraine on Thursday, 17 July 2014.

While the full details are still unclear, it is believed that many of the passengers were on their way to participate in the International AIDS Conference in Melbourne, Australia. It has been confirmed that the United Nations has lost a colleague from the World Health Organization.

It seems that some of the finest academics, health-care workers and activists in the AIDS response may have perished while travelling to take part in the international gathering of experts and advocates. Professor Joep Lange, the former President of the International AIDS Society, was among the victims. Professor Lange was a leading light in the field since the early days of HIV and worked unceasingly to widen access to antiretroviral medicines around the world.

“We are bracing ourselves to hear of the deaths of others who worked in the AIDS response as their names are officially released,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “The UNAIDS family is in deep shock. Our hearts go out to the families of all the victims of this tragic crash. The deaths of so many committed people working against HIV will be a great loss for the AIDS response.”

The UNAIDS family stands in solidarity with the families, friends and colleagues of all who have perished in this tragedy. 

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners to maximize results for the AIDS response. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.