Stakeholder views on the relationship between human rights and the law in addressing the HIV epidemic in Papua New Guinea
This article draws on a qualitative study conducted in Papua New Guinea (PNG) which examined stakeholder views on prospects for law reform, the impact of criminal laws on communities, and the role of law reform in addressing the HIV epidemic. While efforts to reform criminal laws related to sex work and male-to-male sex have taken place in PNG, these have been unsuccessful. Stakeholders identified that strategies for addressing criminal laws and the impacts of law reform must be grounded in the PNG context, that there must be material support for community members to engage with criminal laws and human rights, and that dignity rather than HIV should be the justification for law reform.
Implementing and scaling up programmes to remove human rights related barriers to HIV services
This publication builds on existing global technical guidance in human rights responses, and further advances efforts to support implementers to design and deliver high quality human rights programmes that are well integrated, sustainable, and at scale. The guidance is practical and organised around the Investment Approach to HIV. It helps implementers to understand the programmatic components of evidence-informed and quality interventions to remove barriers to services.
Fast Track and Human Rights – Advancing human rights in efforts to accelerate the response to HIV
Spells out for the first time (on p23) that there must be “Non-criminalization of mother-to-child transmission” when a country applies for validation for the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. This marks the first time in public health history that human rights guarantees are considered a prerequisite to validating disease elimination.