HIV/AIDS

In the past year, Human Rights Watch has focused its work on documenting the human rights abuses these individuals face, and pressing for changes to end these abuses. We have worked to:

• Advocate for access to effective drug addiction treatment in Russia and for access to anti-retroviral drugs for injecting drug users in Thailand
• Bring attention to the lack of access to HIV prevention information and services for immigrants and prisoners living with HIV in US detention facilities
• Demand that the rights of people living with HIV and AIDS advocates in China, Saudi Arabia, Zambia and Burma are respected.

Too often, the importance of addressing human rights in the global fight against AIDS is only rhetorical. "Now More Than Ever: 10 Reasons Why Human Rights Should Occupy the Center of the Global AIDS Struggle", presents a declaration of 24 non-governmental groups to put human rights at the core of the global response. A rights-based approach to the epidemic restores the rights of people affected by HIV and AIDS, fights stigma and discrimination, and reduces vulnerability of the world's most marginalized individuals.