Aids Prevention, Treatment and Legal Rights: Local Strategies for a Global Disease

Abstract

AIDS is a global disease. Prevention, treatment and human rights protection must all form part of any comprehensive AIDS strategy. Prevention, treatment and human rights protection are inter-related issues. For example, the rights of women affect their ability to use prevention strategies. Moreover, the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS, together with a lack of legal protection against discrimination, may deter people from seeking testing and treatment. Prevention, treatment and human rights strategies must also be adapted to suit the conditions in different parts of the globe. Variations in cultural values, affected groups, infection rates, legal systems, economic resources, and human resources mean that HIV/AIDS must be considered in specific contexts. This paper examines the use and absence of these three strategies in different regional contexts in developing and developed countries: South Africa, Brazil, Thailand, Japan and Australia. We examine AIDS strategies from a multidisciplinary perspective that considers legal issues, political issues, and demographic issues.

Keywords: HIV/AIDS, developing and developed countries, patents, human rights, treatment, prevention, South Africa, Brazil, Thailand, Japan, Australia

JEL Classification: K32, K33, N3, D72, P16, Z1