Two thousand activists stormed the opening ceremony of the recent International AIDS Conference in Vienna, broadcasting the message ‘No retreat – fund AIDS’.
AIDS 2010 Co-Chair Dr Julio Montaner couldn’t hide his disappointment and frustration at the recent G8/20 meetings, condemning the recent meetings as having failed the HIV/AIDS community.
In 2005, the international powerbrokers of the G8 committee set 2010 as the deadline to institute their Universal Access to prevention plan, enabling every person on the planet access to HIV/AIDS prevention.
Meanwhile, leading HIV organisations launched a world-wide appeal last month to tackle increasing rates of drug-related infections.
HIV experts pushed for state and international organisation leaders to sign off on the proposed Vienna Declaration – a document drafted to harmonise drug policies around the globe.
Injecting drugs accounted for approximately one third of new HIV cases outside Sub-Saharan Africa with the rate of infection through intravenous injection also increasing within the region.
The Vienna Declaration calls on government to review the effectiveness of their current drug policies; introduce more evidence-based treatments and abolish current health centres that don’t comply with World Health Organisation regulations.
25,000 scientists, leaders and activists met in Vienna on July 18 as efforts and accountability were scrutinised under this year’s theme, ‘Right Here Right Now’.
According to Human Rights Watch, hundreds of thousands of people in Asian countries that were recognised as drug users were locked up in facilities for months on end.
In the absence of science-based treatments, many users allegedly endured torturous conditions and extreme physical cruelty.
Approximately half a million Chinese users were detained at any given time in drug detention centres without trial or due process, up to six years at a time.
Attending the conference were high profile names such as former US President Bill Clinton and philanthropist Bill Gates who delivered keynote remarks on drug policy and current efforts against HIV during the conference.
Singer-songwriter Annie Lennox also led a rally in Vienna on Tuesday July 20, using her role as goodwill ambassador to promote the conference and address the human rights issues at hand.
2008 Nobel Laureate and co-discoverer of HIV, Prof. Françoise Barré-Sinoussi supported the draft Declaration, promoting the pretence that drug addiction was a medical condition, not a crime.
Benn Dorrington
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