To date, 1.5 million children have been infected. Seven thousand five hundred more people become infected every day - that is, five people become infected every minute. Of these, half are women. For this reality, we need an expanded response which goes beyond the important contribution of the health sector. One critical tool in this expanded response is human rights.
Key rights are the rights to information, education, health, and non-discrimination.
These rights have always been imperfectly realised with tragic consequences. Now, with the presence of HIV, failure to protect them becomes even more life-threatening. To the degree that governments, as well as social and religious mores, limit access to these, then vulnerability to infection is increased, and the right to life put in jeopardy. This is true for all people, but especially for vulnerable and marginalized groups who are bearing the brunt of this epidemic. Such groups include women, children, minorities, indigenous peoples, refugees, homosexuals, sex workers, drug-users and prisoners.