AIDS activists call for humane drug policies -- please endorse!

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PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY.

Dear

friends,

We

invite you to endorse the sign-on letter below!

In

many countries, June 26 marks the “International Day against Drug Abuse

and Illicit Trafficking” – a day when drug users are executed and

imprisoned in the name of “good drug policy.”

During

the High-Level Meeting on AIDS, HIV activists and organizations issued this

letter calling for the UN to “speak with one voice,” and address

drug use through a health and human rights-based approach rather than through

punitive measures. More than 50 people have already signed on.

Tell

the UN that good drug policy is good AIDS policy!

Please send endorsements (from organizations and individuals)

to drugsandhivgmail by June 18.

Versión en

June 18,

2008

H.E. Ban

Ki-Moon, United Nations Secretary-General

H.E.

Srgjan Kerim, President, United Nations General Assembly

H.E.

Ambassador Léo Mérorès, President of ECOSOC

Eugenio

María Curia, Chairman, Commission on Narcotic Drugs

Hamid

Ghodse, President, International Narcotics Control Board

Piot, Executive Director, UNAIDS

Costa, Executive Director, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

Excellencies:

As HIV

activists, we are concerned about the impact of contradictions between HIV

commitments and drug policies. We will not achieve universal access to HIV/AIDS

prevention, care, and treatment without protecting the human rights of people

who use drugs.

As

organizations concerned with ensuring an effective global response to the HIV

and AIDS pandemic, we wish to highlight our particular concerns regarding the

United Nations-sponsored International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking,

June 26. Governments often use this day to highlight repressive drug control

efforts by publicizing executions, arrests, and drug seizures. For drug users,

every day brings the expectation of execution, arrest, and imprisonment.

All

Member States of the United Nations have committed to bolstering HIV prevention

by reducing the harms related to injection drug use. We call on governments to

honor these commitments by giving greater emphasis to proven, effective

strategies to combat HIV among people who use drugs.

Outside

of Africa, 30% of all new HIV infections occur

among drug injectors; the fastest spreading epidemics are currently among those

who inject drugs. HIV and AIDS programs cannot be effective if harsh drug

policies make people afraid to use them.

The

International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking highlights the

extremes of the traditional enforcement-based approach to drug problems.

As we transition from the 2008 High Level Meeting on AIDS to the 2009 High

Level Meeting on drugs we need to take a new approach to drug policy –

one that recognizes the importance of protection for people who use drugs. The

current split in the United Nations between addressing drug use through a

public health approach versus a law-enforcement approach causes confusion. It

is critical that UN systems speak as one.

For this

June 26 and beyond, we call on governments and the UN system to recognize that

good AIDS policy requires sound drug policy – measures that address the

drugs problem without impeding access to lifesaving HIV services.

cc: Civil

Society Task Force, 2008 High Level Meeting on AIDS

Cross posted: ITPC

Forwarded by:

---------------------------

Yours in Global Concern

A.SANKAR

Executive Director

EMPOWER.

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