This is where the International Guidelines become particularly valuable. The Guidelines are not legally binding. They effectively provide a best- practice checklist. The Legislators Handbook sets out detailed checklists for each of the Guidelines. To apply the checklist within a national context is not difficult.
Strengths indicate achievements, weaknesses the gaps where action is required.
The beauty of using this mechanism to provide an overview of compliance is that we can begin to have a sense of the full range of actions required in order to achieve a comprehensive human rights response to the epidemic. What is immediately apparent from our Progress Report is that there are many actions required, some of them fundamental. There is no intersectoral ministerial committee with oversight regarding HIV strategy, as there is no strategy to oversee. While there are discrimination protections for some communities, gay men B the community most affected by the epidemic in the UK B do not enjoy legal protection against sexuality discrimination. And there is still no formal needle exchange scheme in Northern Ireland.