As people everywhere celebrate World AIDS Day, the President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Dr. Theo-Ben Gurirab, said that “more had to be done to get drugs and treatment to people who desperately need them. Thirty-three million people are living with HIV, only one third of whom have access to antiretroviral (ARV) drugs".
The provision of affordable ARV treatment, which has improved and extended the lives of many people infected with HIV, is a subject that encompasses human rights, intellectual property law, and trade regulations. It is a complex field, in which the legislator can do much to set the right framework for enlightened policy. It is also one of the key themes being pursued by the IPU Advisory Group on HIV/AIDS, which placed it high on the agenda of the first Global Parliamentary Meeting on HIV/AIDS held one year ago. It will be taken up next in Cape Town, at an IPU training seminar for African parliaments to be held at the National Assembly of South Africa, in late January 2009.
In order to encourage legislators to act, the IPU has published a Handbook for Parliamentarians entitled Taking action against HIV and AIDS. This Handbook, produced jointly with UNAIDS and UNDP, is both a call for parliamentary leadership and a reference book to which legislators and their staff may turn for guidance on specific issues in the response to HIV and AIDS. The Spanish version of this publication is now available and the French version will be published later this month.
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