Bridging the Gap: Conference Record [Abstract book, International Conference on AIDS (12th: 1998: Geneva, Switzerland)]

12th World AIDS Conference

Abstracts 44137-44141 965

violations. In order to educate the community about their rights, members of Pinoy
Plus regularly include this topic in their speaking engagements nationwide.
Results: PLWHAs became aware of their rights, and as a result, they became
more confident in asserting their rights, particularly those affecting quality of care.
PLWHAs can now evoke their rights against media harrassment. Healthcare
providers became more careful in their service delivery. The right to information
regarding treatment is now also being carefully observed.
Lessons Learned: Educating PLWHAs about their rights proved to be effective
in reducing the incidence of human rights violations among PLWHAs. Through
this project, members of Pinoy Plus realized the role of PLWHAs in improving
societal response that make the lives of many infected and affected very difficult.
It was also realized that the community became more respectful of rights of
PLWHAs if they themselves communicate these rights to the people.
44137 Women's health and human rights in Russia
Alena Peryshkina. Bulatnikovskaya 4-1-28, Moscow, Russia
Issue: Russian women seeking medical care: may be refused treatment on the
basis of their condition or lack of financial resources. The rights to privacy, to
freedom form discrimination and the right to information are all routinely violated
in the name of public health in Russia
Project: The project was implemented to increase Russian women's awareness of their health rights. Social research was utilized in order to design, inform
and shape a series of activities to inform target groups of their rights and to
provide then with the skills and knowledge to fight human rights violations that are
occurring in the health system. The target groups included: women seeking birth
control, women who use drugs, women with HIV/AIDS, elderly women, women
who are victims of rape and domestic violence, teenagers and NGOs and governmental organizations that work with the target group, medical establishments,
policy makers who influence laws. The activities aim to help women from each
of the target groups and their advocates promote advocacy and awareness of
human rights violations amongst women in the Russian health system. 20 focus
groups and interview were conducted and then 5000 women were questioned.
Results: 10 two day workshops were conducted by the working groups organizations for 500 target group members. 3000 fact sheets specifically aimed
at each target groups were distributed in 30 medical organizations throughout
Moscow. 1500 women's health advocacy packets were created containing concrete examples of violations of the rights of women in the health system, a review
of the existing Russian Laws pertaining to human rights and public health and
information about organizations and mechanisms working with the target groups..
Lessons learned: To protect and promote public health involves educating the
public about behaviors and situations that pose treats to the health of individuals
and ways to avoid these dangers. Essential ingredients in the prevention of
human rights violations is an adequate understanding of civil and legal matters
by the population.
44138 Net of human rights: A government answer to the
discrimination in HIV/AIDS in Brazil
Raldo B. Costa-Filho1, C.M.P. Carneiro2, A.M.A. Amorin2, C.B. Britto2,
J.R.M. Marins3, A.C.A Abade4. 1SOS 102 B/. E Apt. 607 70330-050,
Brasilia,2Brazilian AIDS Program, Brasilia, DF,3Coordenagao De DST/AIDS
Sorocaba, Sorocaba, SP;4GAPA-SR Sao Paulo, SR Brazil
Issues: The discrimination and violation of rights as a vulnerability factor to HIV
and the AIDS.
Project: Facilitating connections among government and non-government organizations (NGO), people and other nets to promote or to execute actions that
protect the direct fundamental rights of those reached direct or indirectly for the
epidemic of HIV and AIDS, a national net was created. The structure in net
accompanies the social impact of the AIDS, tends an unit of complex action:
identification of the right, identification of the subject of this right, identification of
right's violators, composition of the intervention. The promotion is based in basic
virtues of the daily: care, protection, solidarity. They are like this its strategies:
Systematization and dissemination of weekly information for 1.400 institutions
and multipliers, publications and thematic bulletins, exchange between institutions and sections of the society, financial support to community initiatives of
promotion and supervision of human rights, incentive to the social debate about
legislation referred to the access to the work, attendance and medications.
Results: 1.400 applicants, 11 work shops of human rights in HIV/AIDS, 4
thematic notebooks, 4 bulletins, 22 weekly pamphlets, meetings regarding the
vulnerability of indians and homosexual populations in violence situation, reception and direction of the people's manifestations living with HIV and AIDS.
17 non-governmental projects with consultantship and juridical counseling, 29
lawyers for counseling and juridical consultantship for HIV and the AIDS.
Lessons Learned: The collective distrust in initiatives of the State in favor
of human rights should be considered and absorbed as component of the interinstitutional relationships. The State, the largest violator of human rights is
still considered, but its answer with the net conception removes its actions of an

impotence field for a field of possibilities.

S44139 Welcome, children and youth!
Allan Nuhez, I.F. Fonacier-Fellizar. 118-5 21st Avenue Cubao; 2Children's
Laboratory Foundation Inc, Quezion City, Philippines
Issues: Having regained the power over their Welfare. Children and Youth can
facilitated the Health of the biggest sector of society.
Project: Acknowledging the specificity of children's needs, concerns and issues
and the role they can play to address these based on their evolving capacities, an
intervention by the young leaders with their peers was explored. A satellite effort
to strengthen an on-going project began with an intensive analysis of situations
of children that put them more at risk to Reproductive and Sexually Transmitted
Infections including HIV/AIDS. It moved in to identifying appropriate life skills
present and or needed to prevent or transcend difficult situations and regain or
maintain Health. With the Convention on the Rights of the Child as framework,
these young leaders imposed on themselves a rigid and regular training to acquire and strengthen life skills to be able to motivate their peers. The main project
served as their venue for realizing their efforts on the side.
Results: From a 5-child/youth core, 21 well equipped child/youth leaders from
7 local units of governance (barangays) emerged. They are now taking charge of
leading the process with their respective community organizations. Together with
their Adult leaders (elders), the children and youth have began the implementation
of a 1974Law that adults should have installed long time ago i.e. Council for the
Protection of Children. An empowerment manual was written and produced by
them which very much in use presently.
Lessons: Rays of Hope in coping with the concerns brought forward by
HIV/AIDS. What with children and Youth (the biggest bulk of the world's population) acknowledging their responsibilities and recognizing the power they have to
secure their Health and Welfare.
474*/44140 Ethics in HIV/AIDS research in Kenya: The cases of
Immunex, Kemron, Pearl Omega and Polyatomic
Apheresis (WDDS treatment)
Ambrose Rachier. Kenya Legal and Ethical Issues Network, Nairobi, Kenya
Issues: (a) Informed consent in research. (b) Approval of research protocols by
ethical review committees. (c) Ethics of drug trials. (d) Conduct of bio-medical
research involving human subjects.
Projects: The study looks at the origins and development of certain drugs
or substances and alleged treatment regimes that have been claimed to work
in Kenya in HIV/AIDS care namely Immunex, Kemron, Pearl Omega and Polyatomic Apheresis procedure. The author studied the legal provisions and ethical
principles obtaining in Kenya relating to research on human subjects and drug
trials against the background of the controversial claims for cures in the country
and examined the extent, if any, to which the researchers complied with them.
Results: The ethics of research were grossly abused in most cases, ethical
clearance committee approval was generally ignored and the substances in question were not registered as required by Law. Most drug trials were administered
in breach of internationally recognised ethical principles.
Lessons Learned: There is an urgent need to bridge the gap between the
standard of ethics of research in the third world and that in the industrialised world
as ethics in HIV/AIDS Research and drug trials ought to be universal.
S44141 Promotion and defense of human rights of people living
with AIDS (PWA) in Lima, Peru
Ana Maria Rosasco. Jr. Paraguay No 478 Lima 1, Peru
Issue: People living with HIV/AIDS (PWA) in Lima needed to count with a
promoting entity to defend their rights, frequently violated.
Project: The Center of Legal Advisory and Human Rights was created on
January 1996 by VIA LIBRE Association, with the sponsor of EU/MMF, and with
3 main purposes:
1) To promote Peruvian legislation and policies tending to protect the rights
of PWA; 2) To educate PWA on their rights and how to defend them; 3) To
provide legal assistance to PWA and their families. A survey on Human Rights
was initially applicated to 226 PWA; in addition, conversations and lobby actions
with politicians and opinion leaders were carried out, as well as training activities
for media representatives and sensibility actions for general population.
Results: Lobby actions and advisory work with politicians and opinion leaders
contributed to create the Law 26626, that protects the rights of PWA. 9 of the 13
Self Support Groups in Lima attended workshops on education and defense of
their rights. 909 legal consultations were carried out, offering assistance to 165
cases; as well as 21 training activities on Human Rights of PWA, with a total
coverage of 580 people. Pamphlets (3) and radio spots (4) about Human Rights
were elaborated and validated, addressed to PWA and general population.
Lessons Learned: 1) To acknowledge the importance of an entity that promotes and defends the Human Rights of PWA. 2) It is necessary to make the
general population sensitive to the rights of PWA, making them not to feel disadvantaged fot the public defense of these rights. 3) Professionals attending PWA,

such as healthcare workers and law officers, should receive traning of Human
Rights.