Millions of people have died of AIDS because of bad drug policy -- and millions more lives hang in the balance.
The International AIDS Conference will be held in the U. S. for the first time in 22 years this July 22-27, in Washington DC. Activists, public health professionals, and distinguished world leaders are mobilizing in Washington with a clear message: the criminalization of people who use drugs -- and especially backward government policies that restrict syringe access -- are driving the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
Throughout the world, research has consistently shown that drug criminalization forces people who use drugs away from public health services and into hidden environments where HIV risks become significantly elevated. Mass incarceration of nonviolent drug offenders also plays a major role in spreading the pandemic, as inhumane conditions and lack of HIV prevention or treatment measures in prison lead to HIV outbreaks and AIDS cases behind bars - and among families and communities once those imprisoned are released.
Yet in countries where addiction is treated as a health issue, the fight against HIV/AIDS is being won. New HIV infections in countries such as Australia, Germany and Switzerland have been virtually eliminated among people who use drugs, just as mother-to-child HIV transmission has been eliminated in countries that make medicines for pregnant women accessible.
In the United States, however, the federal government has resisted evidence-based HIV prevention strategies -- costing us hundreds of thousands of lives and billions of dollars. Congress re-instated a longstanding ban last December that prohibits using federal funds for syringe access programs -- a move that will cost thousands of more lives in years to come.
Want to know more about the drug war and AIDS? Check out the infographic below -- and take action by urging Congress to end the syringe access funding ban.
Jag Davies is publications manager for the Drug Policy Alliance.