The Canadian Coalition to Reform HIV Criminalization marked the launch of the 2024 International AIDS Conference in Munich, Germany, by sharing with policymakers personal messages from people living with HIV (PLHIV). The Coalition invites you to listen to the stories of these PLHIV who have bravely and poignantly shared what the threat of criminalization — and the Canadian government’s inaction in addressing this issue — means to them.
The Coalition has launched an action campaign trying to leverage the AIDS2024 conference and global attention on HIV. We sent letters to the Prime Minister, Minister of Heath and Minister of Justice. We now have the series of messages on the website from people living with HIV to Justice Minister Virani calling for action. The Justice Minister has been ignoring our calls for change and not following through on promised reforms.
The videos were accompanied by a letter to Canada’s Minister of Justice, Arif Virani, and other government officials that details the disappointing and incredibly slow-moving “progress” that has been made by the Government of Canada since 2022. At that time, the government announced to the world at the 2022 AIDS Conference in Montreal its plan to hold consultations to reform the criminalization of HIV non-disclosure.
We have seen little action since those consultations closed in January 2023. Many people living with HIV were given hope by the Montreal announcement that the laws in Canada would be amended to respect human rights and to align with the science behind HIV transmission. Instead, the Government of Canada’s unacceptably slow pace in pushing forward meaningful law reform is now in full view as the world gathers in Munich from July 22-26.
Add your voice to the call for action
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Learn more about the Canadian Coalition to Reform HIV Criminalization.