Economic and Social Council

8 April 1997

COMMISSION CONTINUES DISCUSSION OF ADVISORY SERVICES,

FURTHER PROMOTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

OLGA CECHUROVA, of the Transnational Radical Party, said people living with HIV/AIDS were still victims of stigmatization throughout the world.

Stigma and discrimination were tragic effects of the pandemic, causing great, suffering and also undermining public health efforts to prevent further HIV spread. Stigma and discrimination were the enemies of public health; preventing discrimination toward HIV-infected people and those with AIDS had been made an essential part of the public health strategy in order to prevent and control the global epidemic. The epidemic continued to grow and it was not by chance that 90 percent of those living with HIV/AIDS could be found in developing countries and within every society in which there were marginalized people,living in poverty and suffering from inadequate human rights protection. Governments should take measures to avoid social stigmatization of and discrimination against those affected by HIV/AIDS and strengthen nat;onal and international mechanisms that were concerned with HIV/AIDS-related human rights and ethics. All States should ensure in their laws,, policies and practices, including those regardi

ng HIV/AIDS, the respect of human-rights standards. The High Commissioner for Human Rights should consider appropriate methods to keep the protection of human rights in the context of the HIV/AIDS pandemic under continuous review; monitor Government and private practices, and ensure that women, children and low-income and disadvantaged groups had equal access to HIV information, education, health services, prevention methods and medication.