ICAAP8 - Lawyers Collective, Care and UNAIDS panel on access to treatment for poor

[Guest guest]

Media Advisory

CARE, UNAIDS and Lawyers Collective HIV/AIDS Unit, India organize ICAAP 8

panel to underscore need for Effective Access to HIV/AIDS Treatment for the Poor

In Asia, the majority of people living with HIV do not access treatment.

Often, they cannot afford to travel to a treatment centre or a laboratory that

will determine their CD4 level. Even when they can receive free ARV from a

government programme, they struggle to pay for treatment of opportunistic

infections and biological tests - Lawyers Collective HIV/AIDS Unit, CARE and

UNAIDS call for action to ensure access to effective and affordable treatment

for poor and marginalized communities in Asia. The three organizations are

sponsoring a special panel at the 8th International Congress on AIDS in Asia

(ICAAP8) being held in Colombo Sri Lanka looking at this issue.

Panel Discussion: Access, Medicines, Treatment: The Impact of Price and

Distance on treating HIV/AIDS in Asia

Date: August 22, 2007

Time: 6:30-8:00 PM

Venue: Room C, Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Center , Colombo

, Sri Lanka .

Panelists include:

Dr. Denis Broun, UNAIDS Country Coordinator, India (Chair);

Anand Grover, Project Director, Lawyers Collective HIV/AIDS Unit, India;

D. G. Shah, Secretary General, Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance;

Dr. Adeeba Kamarulzaman, Head, Malaysian AIDS Council;

Chan Park, Senior Technical and Policy Advisor, Lawyers Collective HIV/AIDS

Unit, India;

Madhu Deshmukh, director HIV/AIDS Unit, CARE USA;

Khun Jon Ungphakorn, Founder, AIDS Access Foundation of Thailand.

For more information contact:

Amelia s, CARE +919313869174 amelia@...

Manisha Mishra, UNAIDS +91-9810882273, mishram@...

Chan Park, Lawyers Collective +919899452377 chan.park@...

UNAIDS is an innovative joint venture of the United Nations, bringing together

the efforts and resources of the UNAIDS Secretariat and ten UN system

organizations in the AIDS response. Coherent action on AIDS by the UN system is

coordinated in countries through UN theme groups, and the joint programmes on

AIDS. UNAIDS’ Cosponsors include UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, ILO,

UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank.

Lawyers Collective HIV/AIDS Unit was set up as a Unit of the Lawyers

Collective, one of the oldest human rights organisations in India, in 1998 based

on a realization that law, policy and judicial action that upheld the human

rights framework had a central role to play in effectively containing the HIV

epidemic. The Unit comprises lawyers, law students and activists and offers free

legal services to persons living with, affected by or vulnerable to HIV and

undertakes advocacy and research initiatives related to law, rights and HIV.

CARE fights root causes of poverty in the world’s poorest communities in 66

countries. It focuses on working with poor women through its community-based

efforts to improve education, prevent the spread of HIV, increase access to

water and sanitation, expand economic opportunity and protect natural resources.

Kajal Bhardwaj

e-mail: <k0b0@...>