ISLAMABAD: The United Nations has urged Pakistan to revise and adopt laws and policies in order to effectively respond to HIV disease and promote and protect human rights of people, particularly vulnerable groups.

The call was made in a joint report released by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Country Team and the National AIDS Control Programme of Pakistan here on Wednesday.

The report, “Scan of Law and Policies Affecting Human Rights, Discrimination and Access to HIV and Health Services by Key Populations in Pakistan” reviewed existing laws that affect access of key populations to health and HIV services, and took into account the limitations of laws in terms of inclusiveness, relevancy and implications on programmes focusing on key populations.

“This assessment of HIV-related laws and policies identifies legal barriers to accessing health and HIV services for key populations and presents a set of recommendations that can help save lives, save money and help mitigate the AIDS epidemic in Pakistan,” said UNDP Country Director Marc-André Franche.

The UN official hoped that lawmakers, law-enfor­cement personnel, National AIDS Programme officials and donors would find the assessment a valuable tool to inform the development and implementation of an enabling legal environment for effective HIV and heath responses in the country.

The UNAIDS Country Director, Marc Saba, said: “Unless we have an enabling environment for people living with HIV and at higher risk of HIV, it will be very hard to tackle this epidemic which continues to spread silently across the country. We must ensure that injustice and irrationality do not triumph and create obstacles to accessing prevention, treatment and care services.”

The report informs and encourages individuals and civil society organisations to claim their rights and provides needed guidance to policymakers and legislators, officials responsible for criminal justice, law-enforcement officers, National AIDS Programme officials, and donors to develop and implement more effective HIV and health programmes in the country.

“Ample information has been provided in the report for stakeholders to utilise in their planning processes and implementation mechani­sms a human rights perspective,” said Dr Abdul Baseer Achakzai of the National AIDS Control Programme.

“The report will help advocacy initiatives to engage in constructive and open dialogues to address punitive laws and policies targeting key populations in order to reduce the levels of social stigma, discrimination, violence and broader human rights violations. This will ultimately contribute in keeping the treatment cascade intact and reduce chances of failure of adherence,” he said.

The Chairperson of Standing Committee on Cabinet Division, Senator Kalsoom Perveen, and the member of the National As­­sembly’s Standing Com­mit­tee on Health, Zuhra Wad­ood Fatmi, reiterated their commitment to supporting relevant laws by the technical group including government partners, UN partners, civil society observers and key populations.

Published in Dawn, January 23rd, 2015

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