Panama, 17 April 2011: Chilean legislator María Antonieta Saa, President of the Inter-American Parliamentary Group on Population and Development offered a response to this question at an event held at the 124th IPU Assembly on Sunday 17 April in Panama City. Ms. Saa presented a ground-breaking study that identified the gaps in HIV-related legislation in 13 countries in Latin America, in which stronger legislative action was needed to attune the law more to people's rights. The study can also be used as a tool to monitor progress to comply with the international guidelines on HIV.
The panel was moderated by Manuel Burgos, Director of the Panamanian Human Rights and Health Institute, representing civil society in Panama. Other panellists were Dr. César Núñez, UNAIDS Regional Director for Latin America, Ms. Susan Timberlake, UNAIDS Legal and Human Rights Adviser in Geneva, and Mr. Jesudasu Seelam, a member of the Parliament of India.
Manuel Burgos opened the event by stating that an effective response to the HIV epidemic depended on each government's ability to enforce protective legal frameworks and remove punitive laws. Dr. Núñez singled out achievements in terms of treatment and prevention, but said that for every new person on treatment, two were being newly infected. The power of youth in the HIV response should never be underestimated in the HIV response. To show their commitment, parliamentarians should urge their political leaders to engage in the United Nations High Level Meeting on AIDS scheduled to take place in New York in June 2011.
Indian legislator J. Seelam emphasized that prevention of HIV among migrant and very poor populations required closer attention. India had called for a national goal of three zeros: zero new infections, zero AIDS-related deaths and zero discrimination. This could be achieved if governments invested in youth as their single most important priority, as the young are the hardest hit by HIV.
Ms. Timberlake argued that, 30 years into the epidemic, it was time to reset the response during the countdown to the MDG deadline of 2015. Part of that reorientation implied a much greater recognition of the essential role of parliamentarians and the legal environment. Supportive legal and policy frameworks were needed to eliminate discrimination against people affected by HIV; promote human rights; ensure governments fulfilled human rights treaty obligations; and ensure national laws rejected punitive approaches to HIV. These included mandatory testing, coerced sterilization/abortions for women living with HIV, restrictions on entry, stay and residence in countries, and criminalization of HIV transmission.
A lively discussion followed in which the parliamentarians stressed the necessity of educating parliaments about HIV and the crucial importance of political leadership in the response.
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