"AIDS is one of the defining issues of our time, on a par with challenges such as climate change and the threat of nuclear war", said Dr. Elioda Tumwesigye, MP (Uganda) as he presented a new handbook for parliamentarians to the First Global Parliamentary Meeting on HIV/AIDS.
Meeting on the eve of World AIDS Day, the legislators resolved to take advantage of their position as leaders in society to do everything possible to break the silence about HIV/AIDS. "This will not happen unless there is strong political leadership", said US Congressman Jim McDermott. "It is time for us to come out in the open and take a stand publicly."
The event was hosted in Manila by the Senate of the Philippines and chaired by Manny Villar, President of the Senate. Much discussion was devoted to the affordability of treatments for persons living with HIV/AIDS. The parliamentarians resolved to ensure that far greater use was made of the flexibilities contained in the WTO Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) to bring down the price of the pharmaceutical products needed by people living with HIV/AIDS to levels that people could afford.
The legislators also debated the criminalization of HIV transmission, agreeing that while the use of criminal law may be warranted in some circumstances, there was no evidence that criminal laws specific to HIV transmission would make any significant impact on the spread of HIV or on halting the epidemic. Priority should be given, they said, to increasing access to evidence-informed prevention methods.
They also agreed to work to eliminate travel restrictions for people living with HIV/AIDS and to oppose mandatory HIV testing of immigrants and refugees.
Finally, when discussing the resources needed to tackle the crisis, they called on the international community to step up its efforts to increase funding, and proposed that one per cent of the combined debt of the developing countries be converted into funds to help fight the epidemic.
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