UNDP highlights the importance of competition in increasing access to health...

New York – The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) released a new guidebook today encouraging low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to make greater use of competition law and policy to increase access to HIV treatment and other health technologies.

Governments and civil society actors in a growing number of countries have successfully used competition law to promote healthy, open and fair market conditions in the health technologies sector, “yet many others are only now recognizing the importance of competition law, and are beginning to devote more legislative and administrative resources to the field,” Frederick Abbott, editor and one of the five authors of the Guidebook, said.

Friendly clinics for sexual diversity | Manuel Irizar

In recent years, Argentinian society has made significant progress as relates to the full exercise of citizens’ rights. However, sexually diverse groups such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LBGT) people still face discriminatory situations affecting dramatically their quality of life.

Strengthening Access to Justice and Legal Empowerment for People living with...

Access to legal-aid services for people living with HIV and most vulnerable populations is central to a more effective response to the HIV epidemic in China. Legal aid plays an important role in guaranteeing protection from discrimination, getting redress for rights violations and supporting access to HIV prevention and treatment services. Yet, the enforcement of even the most basic human rights for people living with HIV in China is difficult because of high levels of stigma, a serious shortage of legal aid services and concerns about the possible disclosure of people’s identity during legal proceedings. A recent UNAIDS study [1] revealed that only 30% of HIV discrimination cases have judicial follow-up, with many potential clients being afraid of taking any legal action.

UNDP and UNFPA Meeting of Experts to Reflect on the Recommendations of the...

UNDP and UNFPA convened a meeting of experts on 24-26 April 2014 in New York to examine strategies to reflect on the recommendations of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law related to sex work. The participants were composed of experts from sex work communities, human rights and HIV, women’s rights, anti-trafficking groups, academia, and donors and individuals from UN agencies working on sex work-related issues. Informed by the various disciplines and multiple perspectives of participants, the discussions aimed to reflect on the Commission’s recommendations and to deliberate on ways forward in advancing the best rights-based policy frameworks on the issue of sex work and HIV as well as the evidence available and required to inform robust and rational policy.

Hon. Michael Kirby featured in Intellectual Property Forum issue on proposed...

The Honourable Michael Kirby, who previously served on the Global Commission on HIV and the Law, has been featured in the most recent issue (No. 96, March 2014) of the academic journal, Intellectual Property Forum: Journal of the Intellectual and Industrial Property Society of Australia and New Zealand, which focuses on the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement. In the interview, Hon. Michael Kirby discusses the intellectual property-related recommendations of the Commission’s report, HIV and the Law: Risks, Rights and Health. The editors of the journal have given us permission to share the full text of the interview, as well as the issue’s general