HIV/AIDS in Asia: Is It a Rights Issue?

The Asia Society in New York City will hold a discussion of key issues from the International AIDS Conference and explore their implications for Asia—where the prevalence of HIV continues to rise.

The theme of the 18th International AIDS Conference in Vienna was "Rights Here, Rights Now," a title emphasizing the significant legal and rights challenges remaining in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Discrimination and social exclusion towards people living with HIV and punitive policies towards vulnerable populations continue to influence the regional response to the pandemic. The Vienna meeting underscored the necessity to protect human rights as a fundamental prerequisite to an effective public health response to HIV. The fact that both terms—“AIDS” and “human rights”—remain taboo in some parts of Asia only highlights the distance still to be traversed if the epidemic is to be controlled.

To mark World AIDS Day, please join a discussion of key issues from the International AIDS Conference and explore their implications for Asia—where the prevalence of HIV continues to rise.

Panelists:

Joseph Amon, Director, Health and Human Rights Division, Human Rights Watch
Joanne Csete, Associate Professor, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health
Kevin Robert Frost, Chief Executive Officer, amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research
Daniel Wolfe, Director, International Harm Reduction Development program, Open Society Foundations
Sara L.M. Davis, Executive Director, Asia Catalyst

Policy programs at the Asia Society are generously supported by the Nicholas Platt Endowment for Public Policy.