The European Court of Human Rights has rejected an HIV-positive Ugandan woman's claim to stay in the UK.

Deborah Jack Chief Executive of the National AIDS Trust comments:

“The decision to send an HIV-positive woman back to Uganda is a setback for human rights. Once someone is given treatment for HIV, any change or interruption to that treatment is life threatening.  To return someone to a country where treatment is not accessible can mean in effect a death sentence. 

This case highlights the desperate inequalities that exist in the accessibility of  HIV treatment around the world and the urgent need to ensure that HIV care is rolled out internationally; just because a country has drugs does not mean that everyone in that country can access them, let alone pay for them¹. 

Health is a basic human right and for people living with HIV that means access to treatment.”

Notes to the Editor:

1 – Approximately 2 million people living with HIV are receiving treatment in low- and middle-income countries, representing only 28 per cent of the 7.1 million people in need.
[WHO, UNAIDS, UNICEF (2007) Towards Universal Access
http://www.who.int/hiv/mediacentre/universal_access_progress_report_en.pdf]
 

National AIDS Trust

The National AIDS Trust (NAT) is the UK's leading independent policy and campaigning voice on HIV and AIDS. It aims to prevent the spread of HIV, encourage early diagnosis, ensure people living with HIV have access to treatment and care, and eradicate HIV-related stigma and discrimination.
www.nat.org.uk