Michael Kirby: Summing up the UNAIDS meeting on the criminalisation of HIV
In Geneva, from the 31 August to the 2 September, UNAIDS organised an expert meeting to review the scientific, medical, legal and human rights issues related to the criminalization of HIV exposure and transmission. Justice Michael Kirby, a retired judge of the High Court of Australia and member of Pacific Friends’ Coordinating Committee, was one of the experts to review the application of the criminal law to HIV.
Here an excerpt from an interview with Michael Kirby at the UNAIDS expert meeting in Geneva:
There are some exceptional cases where the criminal law has a role to play. However, the criminal law has been pushed into a whole range of other activities which are counter-productive from the point of view of a public health response to HIV. The use of criminal law is also likely to lead to disproportionate and highly punitive measures which are not helpful in responding to the epidemic in a way that prevents the spread of HIV.
After the meeting Michael Kirby did a wonderful job in summing up the key points and views from the high-level meeting in this report.
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Pacific Friends of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is a high-level advocacy organisation which seeks to mobilise regional awareness of the serious threat posed by HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria to societies and economies in the Pacific. In pursuing its goals Pacific Friends has a specific interest in highlighting the need to protect the rights of women and children in the Pacific.
In February 2009, Pacific Friends was launched under the auspices of the Lowy Institute for International Policy and with generous support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to join the group of Friends of the Global Fund organisations. Pacific Friends also raises support for the Geneva-based Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the vital role it plays in resourcing effective country-based plans to reduce the impact and spread of the three pandemics.
Following generous support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to join the group of Friends of the Global Fund organisations, Pacific Friends has established itself under the auspices of the University of New South Wales. Through its advocacy Pacific Friends also raises support for the Geneva-based Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the vital role it plays in resourcing effective country-based plans to reduce the impact and spread of the three pandemics.
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