An estimated 11-21 million people inject drugs worldwide, with HIV infection rates among people who inject drugs as high as 37% in Russia, and 52% in Indonesia.

Needle and syringe programmes, substitution therapy and other interventions that support people who use drugs are proven to be effective at halting or reversing the HIV epidemic among people who inject drugs.

Yet, the HIV epidemic is worsened by laws and policies that criminalise the use of drugs and impose harsh penalties and law enforcement measures on users.

This approach has further discriminated and stigmatised people who use drugs, and impeded their access to HIV programmes.

Civil society organisations are unable to implement their HIV programmes when they are blocked by local policy and legislative barriers.
It is time governments stop PUNISHING and start SUPPORTING!

Together, organisations around the world in the ‘Support. Don’t Punish’ Campaign, demand that governments:

1. Bring an end to the criminalization and punishment of people who use drugs, and to the prohibition of needle and syringe programmes and opioid substitution therapies

2. Put  an end to imprisonment as a form of treatment, and adopt voluntary and human rights compliant drug treatment programmes

3. Work with civil society and most-at-risk populations to gain a better understanding of the potential harmful impacts of their current laws and policies, and develop programmes that are proven to be effective at stopping HIV transmission

TAKE ACTION

You can endorse the campaign as an organisation here.
Or personally, you can do the following:

Copy and TWEET our message:

The heightened risks faced by people who inject drugs can no longer be ignored. http://supportdontpunish.org #supportdontpunish  #PrevHIV

Use the hashtag #supportdontpunish If you have a report, video or statement that fits with the campaign statement.

SHARE the campaign on Facebook:

You can watch the campaign video and share it with your Facebook contacts.

Hear Alyona and Nga’s stories in the campaign video, and share on Facebook

You can follow the campaign updates on the Support. Don’t Punish website and share it on your Facebook page.

TAKE a photo:

Take part in the campaign’s interactive photo project. Download the campaign poster, take a picture, and send it to campaign@idpc.net

USE the logo:

The Support. Don’t Punish logo is free to use, and can be downloaded here. If you have a report, video or statement that fits with the campaign statement, then please use the logo and send a link to campaign@idpc.net so that we can help promote it.

Just like you, I have dreams and wishes, responsibilities and rights.

But we differ in one way, my country does not recognise my gender identity. As a result I am excluded from enjoying education, health, work and my full rights as a citizen.

I experience fear. According to reports, every year, over 200 transgender people are killed in Latin America. This is over 80% of the world’s reported cases.

Hardly any of these murders get investigated.

I am afraid because the State itself controls my life through illegal detention, torture and extortion and by allowing transphobic violence to go unpunished.

My rights and my gender identity are not recognised and because of this I am more vulnerable to HIV and poverty.

The Latin American and Caribbean Network of Transgender People (Redlactrans) and the Alliance have launched the ‘Just Like You’ campaign.

The campaign urges our national governments to pass gender identity laws to guarantee right of every citizen to be who they are. Argentina has already passed this law – the first in the region.

Because we are just like you!

Take action

-       If you want to take action as an individual, please use the form below to email governments in Latin America and the Caribbean.

-      If you represent an organisation or institution and wish to endorse the ‘Just Like You’ campaign, please send an email to info@aidsalliance.org

-      Pulse aquí para la acción en español

-       “Like you, I want respect” say transgender women from Latin America, click here to watch a video produced by REDLACTANS.

Igual a ti, tengo sueños, deseos, responsabilidades y derechos.

Pero en mi país no se reconoce el derecho a  mi identidad de género, y esto me excluye de la educación, el trabajo, la justicia, la vivienda, la política, la salud… de una ciudadanía plena con todos los derechos.

También tengo miedo. Cada año, se reporta el asesinato de más de 200 personas trans en América Latina. Más del 80% de los casos reportados en el mundo.

La inmensa mayoría de estas muertes quedan impunes.

Me aterra que el mismo Estado controle mi vida con detenciones arbitrarias, torturas y extorsiones y permita asesinatos y violencia transfóbica.

Sin derechos, sin mi  identidad reconocida, soy más vulnerable al VIH y a la pobreza.

La Red Latinoamericana y del Caribe de Personas Trans (Redlactrans) y la International HIV/AIDS Alliance han lanzado la campana ‘Igual a Ti’.

Nuestra campaña demanda que nuestras autoridades aprueben una ley de identidad de género que nos garantice el derecho a ser lo que una o uno es.

Somos igual a ti.

- Si quieres unir personalmente tu voz a la campaña  aquí puedes firmar nuestra petición a los gobiernos de América Latina.

-  Si tu organización o institución quiere apoyar la campana institucionalmente, envíanos un correo a info@aidsalliance.org

- Click here to read this page in English

How? By developing a detailed blueprint to map out its role in a global HIV response which invests enough funds in the right programmes for the right people.

As World AIDS Day 2012 approaches, we should find ourselves at a tipping point. We finally have enough information and tools to get the pandemic under control and achieve a world with no new infections, no AIDS-related deaths and where HIV-positive people are healthy and realise their rights.

But the road ahead will not be easy. Global economic recession, shifting donor priorities and the changing nature and location of the HIV pandemic means the UK government must continue to invest and continue to invest in what works.

That’s why we want UK Prime Minister David Cameron and Secretary of State for International Development Justine Greening to take the opportunity this World AIDS Day to announce how they intend to continue the UK government’s essential leadership role to help break the back of the epidemic – once and for all.

Click here to email David Cameron and Justine Greening to ask for a UK Blueprint for an HIV-free generation.

The UK blueprint should:

- Commit to leading the way globally.

- Commit to maintain the current proportion of UK international aid going to HIV.

- Commit to focus on all people affected by HIV, regardless of where they live.

Find out more

For World AIDS Day 2012, we will be launching a new report Don’t Stop Now! Calling for a UK Blueprint to achieve an HIV-free generation which will shine a light on the essential role the UK government has played in funding the HIV response over the last 30 years, and proposes a future role they should play in realising the end of the HIV pandemic.

This action is led by the Stop AIDS Campaign – a coalition of over 60 UK NGOs and trade unions working together to demand universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support – of which the Alliance is a member.

This unjust legislation includes laws which discriminate against people living with HIV, or criminalise drug users, sex workers and homosexual or transgender people.

Together we sent over 18,000 emails and letters to Commonwealth Ministers of Foreign Affairs, putting unprecedented pressure on the Commonwealth and its institutions to make legal reforms for a better response to HIV.

With your help we have succeeded again!

Foreign Affairs Ministers from across the Commonwealth met in New York on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly last Saturday (29 September 2012) and agreed to adopt in full the outstanding recommendations of the Eminent Persons Group (EPG).

Thanks to your support the recommendation to “take steps to encourage the repeal of laws that may impede the effective response of Commonwealth countries to the HIV/AIDS epidemic” has been taken seriously.

This was by far the most contentious recommendation made by the EPG. We are grateful that with your help we managed to get it through.

It is vital now to maintain momentum as we move into the implementation stage of the Commonwealth reform process. Our next challenge is to ensure that the Commonwealth Secretariat include this work in their organisational strategic plan which they are currently developing.

To find out more on the Commonwealth Ministers of Foreign Affairs meeting in New York please read:
Ministers take steps to strengthen the Commonwealth
Foreign Ministers agree on Draft Commonwealth Charter and EPG Recommendations

This action was supported by Peter Tatchell Foundation, Terrence Higgins Trust, Alliance India, Alliance Uganda and Alliance Linking Organisations across the Commonwealth including the Alliance Zambia, Botswana Network on Ethics, Law and HIV/AIDS (BONELA), Kenya AIDS NGO Consortium (KANCO), the Malaysian AIDS Council (MAC) and the Network on Ethics/Human Rights, Law, HIV/AIDS Prevention, Support and Care (NELA) in Nigeria.

This is very disappointing, as previously it seemed that the Commonwealth was making great strides towards improving the human rights and health of people living in Commonwealth countries, and proving its relevance.

In 2009 an Eminent Persons Group (EPG) of respected experts was established to examine the Commonwealth’s future and relevance. At the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) the EPG presented their recommendations. As a result of intense advocacy, including by the Alliance’s ‘What’s Preventing Prevention?’ campaign, most of their recommendations on HIV were adopted.

However, other key recommendations were deferred. These recommendations could have a huge impact on the lives of people in Commonwealth countries, particularly key populations at higher risk of HIV, such as sex workers, people who use drugs and LGBT people, for whom criminalising laws are a major barrier to accessing HIV prevention, treatment and support.

Key recommendations were:

- For the Commonwealth to “take steps to encourage the repeal of laws that may impede the effective response of Commonwealth countries to the HIV/AIDS epidemic”.

- The creation of a Commonwealth Commissioner for Democracy, the Rule of Law and Human Rights.

- The development of a new Commonwealth Charter, which should underpin core human rights principles and the commitment of the Commonwealth to fight HIV and other major health challenges.

These recommendations were passed to a Ministerial Task Force to develop further and present at the Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Meeting.  Rather than accepting the above recommendations, the Alliance understands that the Task Force has requested further guidance from the Ministers at the September meeting on how to pursue them – potentially opening the issues up to further delay, and possible dismissal.

A lack of transparency and commitment

We’d hoped that the discussions by the Ministerial Task Force would exemplify the core Commonwealth principles of transparency, accountability and civil society participation. That has not happened. Discussions on the new charter, which should have involved every Commonwealth country, only happened in the UK, Canada and Australia to our knowledge.

And now everything seems to be done and dusted. The draft Charter which representatives of the task force have agreed to present contains no mention of freedom from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Nor does it include the creation of a Commonwealth Democracy and Human Rights Commissioner or refer to HIV and other public health threats.

The task force has also subscribed to the Commonwealth Secretariat’s approach to its Strategic Plan 2013-2016, described in the Secretariat’s First Discussion Paper. The paper proposes health to be an “area of diminished focus”. This is in spite of health being prioritised profusely in the CHOGM Perth Communiqué, including a commitment to universal health care. Was this all just empty rhetoric?

The task force is also going to request  further guidance from the Ministers at the September meeting on how to pursue the recommendation to take steps to repeal discriminatory legislation undermining the HIV response – potentially opening the issues up for further debate, and possible dismissal.

Don’t miss this opportunity!

There is still time for the Commonwealth the do something to address the key human rights and health challenges it’s citizens are facing. Ignoring the recommendations that the Commonwealth leaders themselves have made will simply add to the ever growing questions among Commonwealth citizens about the impact and added value of the institution.

The ‘What’s Preventing Prevention?’ campaign has launched an action for the Commonwealth ministers of foreign affairs, who meet on 29 September, to approve the recommendation to “take steps to encourage the repeal of laws that may impede the effective response of Commonwealth countries to the HIV/AIDS epidemic”. Take action here

The march, which coincided with the International AIDS Conference, converged on the White House to demand major changes to international and domestic HIV policy.

We brought our message ‘don’t stop now, finish the job’ to the march, with our supporters decked out in striking red t-shirts. They were calling on donors and governments to keep the important gains made in responding to HIV and protect the rights of those most affected.

But the fight isn’t over! Are you ready to end AIDS? Then sign the Washington Declaration.

The declaration recognises the fact that we stand at a unique time in the history of the AIDS epidemic. Through new scientific advances and societal, political and human rights gains, it is possible to turn the tide against the AIDS and begin to end the epidemic in our lifetimes.

Last week also saw the launch of Don’t stop now: invest in communities to stop AIDS, a new Alliance discussion paper which you can download here.

The conference theme, ‘turning the tide together’, reflects that this is a unique moment in history: if we take the right approach, we can bring an end to AIDS.

For that, we have to invest in community-led approaches, centred on human rights.

Are you ready to end AIDS? Then sign the Washington Declaration.

The declaration recognises the fact that we stand at a unique time in the history of the AIDS epidemic. Through new scientific advances and societal, political and human rights gains, it is possible to turn the tide against the AIDS and begin to end the epidemic in our lifetimes.

On 24 July we joined the We Can End AIDS march, which brought together activists who fight AIDS and work for economic justice and human rights, to demand political will to bring an end to AIDS.

Check out photos from the march below. Visit www.wecanendaids.org for more details.

Our key messages for AIDS 2012:

Don’t Stop Now! Community-led approaches are essential to universal access to quality HIV services

We’re calling for communities at higher risk of HIV to fully participate in the response, including in National AIDS Plans and Global Fund coordination mechanisms. Read more here.

Don’t Stop Now! A human rights approach must be the foundation of the HIV response

We’re campaigning for national laws which do not criminalise those most affected by HIV and protect them from human rights violations, stigma and discrimination and lack of access to HIV services. Read more about human rights at AIDS 2012.

Don’t Stop Now! We must invest in a combination of interventions that are proven to work best

We demand that governments and donors make strategic investments that combine HIV interventions focused on those most at risk, community mobilisation and human rights-based HIV programmes. Read more here.

Don’t Stop Now! Globally agreed financing targets for the HIV response must be met

We’re calling for the Global Fund to be fully funded and for donors to scale up their global response. You can TAKE ACTION by endorsing the WECARe+ petition for the replenishment of the Global Fund.

Treatment as prevention (TAP) is one emerging issue that is causing great debate. The International HIV/AIDS Alliance has conducted a partnership-wide consultation on the topic in order to inform its own programming and advocacy messages. The ‘What’s Preventing Prevention?’ campaign has produced a briefing paper which draws on the results of that consultation and on an extensive desk review of the available literature.

The briefing paper highlights some of the key questions that communities most affected by HIV and the organisations that support them are currently discussing, and outlines our eight points to remember to make TAP work.

Download the briefing paper here.

You can read the full article here, please feel free to leave a comment and let us know what you think!