This isn’t the World AIDS Day message we wanted to send

Via the HIV Legal Network

World AIDS Day is traditionally a day for us to look back at an epidemic now entering its fifth decade, with love and an ever-lingering sadness for the lives lost, and a commitment to advocate for the rights of people who often experience poorer health outcomes because of stigma, inequitable access to healthcare and treatment, and other barriers.

We would normally take stock of how far our movement has come and offer a message of hope for a future where the rights of people living with and affected by HIV are respected, protected, and fulfilled.

Unfortunately, we can’t hide our disappointment and frustration on this World AIDS Day.

As you may already be aware, the Government of Canada has informed the Canadian Coalition to Reform HIV Criminalization (CCRHC) — of which the HIV Legal Network is a founding member — that Canada will not be keeping its promise to people living with HIV to reform the laws that criminalize HIV non-disclosure.

The government knows that it is going against the overwhelming consensus of legal and health experts throughout the world, and that continuing to criminalize people because of a health condition is contributing to an increase in HIV transmissions in Canada, driving people away from testing, treatment, and the care they need.

The federal government’s decision to abandon long-awaited law reform, after years of promises and commitments, is a devastating blow to people living with HIV and their allies across Canada. People living with HIV spoke to the continued harms that they experience at a media conference hosted by the CCRHC on Thursday, November 28. You can read the related press release here, or watch the press conference here.

But this is far from the end of the story.

Advocates will continue to fight for meaningful change and against stigma and discrimination. The HIV Legal Network team will not rest until we see an end to HIV criminalization, in Canada and around the world. We know that Canada’s current approach is not aligned with the science of HIV transmission and is contrary to human rights and sound public health policy.