Search Results for: HIV/AIDS

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced Monday that Namibia has eliminated vertical mother-to-child transmission of viral HIV and Hepatitis B, the first country in Africa and the only high-burden country worldwide to do so. WHO presented the country with the “silver-tier” status for its work on controlling and eliminating Hepatitis B and the “bronze tier” [...]

Recent Afrobarometer survey data (Round 8, 2019-2021) paints a stark picture with 86% of Kenyans and 93% of Ghanaians expressing intolerance towards the LGBT community. This high level of intolerance exists despite the Universal Declaration of Human Rights guaranteeing non-discrimination based on sexual orientation. Furthermore, across Africa, laws criminalizing consensual same-sex sexual activity remain commonplace. [...]

Bob Rae, Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations, does not shy away from tough questions. Though many in a position such as his might shy away from argument, Rae seems to relish the opportunity to engage in some intellectual sparring. It was in this context that I requested an interview as Canada grapples with multiple [...]

UN International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), a UN agency responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide, released a report Friday on International Women’s Day alleging that more than 230 million girls and women worldwide have been subjected to female genital mutilation (FGM), an increase of 30 million or 15 percent compared with [...]

The US has faced numerous issues involving prescription drugs, especially with rising costs and accessibility of life-saving and required medications. One class action lawsuit (Wilkins et. al. v. Genzyme Corporation (n/k/Sanofi) against Genzyme (now owned by and known as Sanofi, the eighth largest pharmaceutical company in the world) alleges the company intentionally misled patients with [...]

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed suit against the state of Tennessee on Thursday seeking the invalidation of a law criminalizing “aggravated” prostitution citing the discriminatory impacts of its elevated penalties on those convicted of prostitution if they are HIV positive. The lawsuit also seeks expungement of state registries related to the law’s enforcement [...]

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled Tuesday in O.G. and Others v. Greece that Greece violated the right to respect for private life of HIV-positive sex workers. Greece imposed blood tests on Greek sex workers and publicly disseminated their personal data upon the order of a prosecutor in 2012. The ECHR unanimously identified two [...]

The American Red Cross implemented guidance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Monday to relax restrictions on blood donations for gay and bisexual men. Specifically, the American Red Cross changed its donor assessment questionnaire to remove gender and sexual orientation-specific questions and focus more on an individual’s history. Before, gay and bisexual [...]

Lawrence Alado is a JURIST Staff Correspondent in Uganda. This is one in a seasonal series of columns by JURIST law student staff and correspondents discussing their summer work in support of justice, human rights and the rule of law, in their own countries and around the world. The first week of my internship in [...]

The Parliament of Ghana passed an extreme anti-gay bill on Wednesday, which is set to tighten laws against members of the LGBTQ+ community. Ghana’s 275 members of Parliament unanimously passed the bill, known as the 2021 Promotion of Appropriate Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill. The bill is set to criminalize the promotion, advocacy, funding [...]