The Dominion - AIDS

Raising Justice, Reducing Harm

taramichelle — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 09:40:07 +0000

Ottawa Prisoners' Justice Day raises awareness on the impact of prisons on drug use

OTTAWA—The issue of harm reduction in prisons dominated the presentations at the Prisoners’ Justice Day event held in Ottawa, at the Jack Purcell Community Centre on August 10. The event included a table fair, a prisoners’ book drive and presentations from organizers and former inmates.

“Prisoners’ Justice Day is a day of solidarity, to honour and remember all prisoners who have died unnatural deaths while incarcerated, and to cast light on the on-going human rights issues present in prisons,” said Jennifer Rae, a member of Campaign for Safer Consumption Sites in Ottawa (CSCS), in a speech. “This year, [the] day will also focus on the need for harm reduction policies in Canadian prisons to reduce the spread of infectious diseases and save lives.”

CSCS, an organization that promotes dignity and respect for all drug users, was one of the many community groups organizing this event. According to her speech, estimates of HIV and Hepatitis C prevalence in Canadian prisons are respectively 10 times and 20 times the estimated prevalence in the rest of Canada, and are especially high among drug users. Additionally, suicide rates in prisons are seven times higher than the general Canadian population, and between 2005 and 2010 there were over 33,000 formal complaints from prisoners, mostly regarding lack of health care in federal prisons.

Caleb Chepesiuk is the Harm Reduction Program Coordinator at AIDS Committee of Ottawa, another group organizing the event. The group provides support and promotes the wellbeing of people affected by HIV/AIDS. Chepesiuk said that the prison policies do not provide a space for safe drug use, encouraging the spread of infections such as HIV and Hepatitis C.

“The policies create more harm for people who use drugs than the drugs themselves,” he said. “There has been a call for a needle distribution system in prisons for years now…and this is being actively ignored by our politicians and bureaucrats.”

Chepesiuk added that even people who are on trial or spending shorter periods of time in prisons are also at a risk of facing many problems.

“Whether it is a couple of weeks or a couple of months, [those policies] disrupt any efforts of getting employment, or housing, all those different pieces that really help build a healthy community,” he said.

On August 10, inmates in Canada and in prisons around the world went on a hunger strike in memory of Eddy Nolan who bled to death in Millhaven Penitentiary in Ontario on August 10, 1974. That incident along with a four day riot that resulted in the death of two inmates at the Kingston Penitentiary in 1971 led to major improvements in the Canadian prison system.

Inmates also released a statement on Prisoners’ Justice Day, written by Alex Hundert, and Mandy Hiscocks, both community organizers who are currently imprisoned on charges related to activist organizing around the G20 Summit, in Toronto in 2010. The statement was written with input from more than a dozen inmates inside the Central North Correctional Complex in Penetanguishene Ontario.

Similar events were held in other Canadian cities such as Toronto, Halifax and Vancouver, Montreal and Sudbury.

Crystel Hajjar is an Ottawa-based writer, organizer and climate justice activist.

Ottawa Prisoners' Justice Day

African AIDS education may be working in Zimbabwe

Wed, 08 Feb 2006 23:23:36 +0000

A recently published census conducted in Zimbabwe has shown a 50% drop in prevalence of HIV in some groups. The study, conducted by researchers from London and Zimbabwe between 1997 and 2003, focused on nearly 10 000 people and found that a reduction of sexual partners, a delay on first-time sexual encounters and an increase in the use of condoms, has produced an overall decline in HIV.

Women, aged 15 to 24 saw a 49% reduction in HIV prevalence, while men aged 17 to 29 saw a 23% drop. Although Zimbabwe does not have the AIDS prevention resources or funds compared to some of its neighbors such as Zambia, the country has joined Uganda in being one of the only 2 Sub-Sahara countries to see a significant decline in their the prevalence of HIV.

The decrease has been attributed to education programs launched in the 1990's which focused on a variety of behaviors which reduce the risk of HIV transmission such as monogamy, abstenance and using condoms. Canadian support to fight against AIDS in Africa has mostly focused on he use of anti-retroviral drugs but high costs have meant that only 5% of those in Zimbabwe in need of these drugs are receiving them.

Of global HIV infections, 70% of them are in Africa and 80% of all AIDS-related deaths are in Africa as well. Some countries such as Botswana, Lesotho and Zimbabwe have infection rates of over 30% of the population.

health-e.org.za

United Nations

Brazil Refuses $40 Million US for AIDS Funding

Tue, 17 May 2005 17:58:27 +0000

Protesting demands that it agree to a declaration condemning prositution, Brazil became the first country to reject funding under the United States' AIDS programme.

As a result Brazil forfeits the possibility of receiving $40 million US in new AIDS funding, claiming the declaration is actually counteractive in the attempt to eliminate prosititution and the spread of AIDS.

"This would be entirely in contradiction with Brazilian guidelines for a programme that has been working very well for years. We are providing condoms and doing a lot of prevention work with sex workers, and the rate of infection has stabilized and dropped since the 1980s." Explains Sonia Correa, co-chair of the International Working Group on Sexuality and Social Policy, in a recent Guardian report.

The US demand for such declarations is not isolated to the Brazilian case. As the Guardian reports, in general, "most US AIDS funding goes directly to organisations working in the field and much will be channelled through faith organisations that back the no-abortion, pro-abstinence and anti-prostitution stance of the US neo-conservatives."

The same report suggests that Brazil was able to resist these demands because of strong HIV/AIDS policies and a "strong partnership between government and non-governmental organizations that encouraged a united response to Washington."

Correa sees Brazil's decision to refuse US funds as setting an important precedent but warns that other countries may not be strong enough to resist US influence. "The US is doing the same in other countries -- bullying, pushing and forcing -- but not every country has the possibility to say no."

The Guardian: Brazil spurns US terms for Aids help

AlterNet:Brazil to U.S.: Keep Your Money

Reuters: Brazil spurns US AIDS cash over prostitution issue

Reuters: US AIDS Policy: More Harm Than Good, Says Brazil

BBC: Brazil turns down US Aids funds

India Passes New Patent Law: Price of AIDS Drugs Expected to Soar

Thu, 07 Apr 2005 09:53:05 +0000

India's government passed a controversial patent law last week making it illegal for domestic firms to produce cheap generic copies of AIDS drugs developed by multinational pharmaceutical firms.

As a New York Times report suggests, the law has the potential to cut the supply of cheap generic AIDS drugs to millions in the developing world who rely on India as a supplier.

The patent law changes result from the nation's membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and India's commitments to the WTO's TRIPs agreement (Trade Related aspects of Intellectual Property Rights). The TRIPs agreement obliges members to change their national patent rules in order to comply with the WTO standards.

An editorial in Nairobi's Nation blasts the TRIPs agreement, claiming that it hinders Africa's socioeconomic development and serves as a tool for multinational firms from the industrialized countries to "continue to reap huge profits."

It has been suggested by Nation that the cost of AIDS drugs in Kenya is likely to soar due to the new Indian patent laws. Currently, Kenyans pay approximately $20 US for generic drugs from India, while the cost of the patented versions from multinational pharmaceutical firms cost around $395 US.

The Nation (Nairobi):WTO Policy a Blow to Anti-Aids Drive

Business Week:Groups Slam Indian Passage of Patent Law

New York Times:India Tightens Law, Alarming Advocates for AIDS Patients

AIDS exacerbating food shortages in Africa

Thu, 30 Sep 2004 22:01:06 +0000

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization is trying to bring attention to the devastating effect that the African AIDS crisis is having on the continent's ability to feed itself. Aside from depriving Africa of labourers, AIDS is killing many farmers before they can pass on to their children basic knowledge about traditional farming techniques. The FAO's study observed that farmers in Mozambique are cultivating less land and producing less food per acre than even a few years ago.

The FAO is working to adapt education programs targeted at adult farmers for the benefit of their orphaned children. These programs include teaching farmers about drought- and disease-resistant plants and modern farming techniques.

Unless existing AIDS treatments become widely accessible, many African nations are expected to lose up to 25% of their agricultural labour force to the disease within the next six years.

» Mail and Guardian: Aids threatens Africa's agriculture

» CBS: AIDS Hindering Africa Food Output

International News: December 1

Tue, 02 Dec 2003 03:43:41 +0000

Israeli Attacks Leaving Thousands Homeless: UN

The remains of the former homes of the extended family of a suicide bomber. photo: Valerie Zink/FromOccupiedPalestine.org

According to UN observers, a recent Israeli attack in Gaza left 200 homes demolished and over 2,000 people homeless. The demolitions, which occur with little warning, were a part of "Operation Root Canal", an Israeli effort to destroy tunnels that Palestinian fighters use to smuggle weapons into the Occupied Territories.

"It's a sad factor that the people of Rafah, the innocent civilians who live there, have to pay the heavy price for the mobsters and gangsters who operate these tunnels," said Sharon Feingold, the Israeli general in charge of the operation. Israeli forces has recently used military-grade bulldozers and rockets to demolish the homes of the extended families of suicide bombers, or those suspected of housing Palestinian fighters. (Jordan Times, Australian Broadcasting Corp.)

Jordan Times:

» ABC: Israeli raids leaving thousands homeless: UN

Bombing Iraq, Building Fences, Demolishing Homes

Amnesty International stated that the United States appears to be destroying the houses of those associated with guerilla attackers as a form of "collective punishment". The Pentagon said that "the idea that this is some type of collective punishment is just absolutely without merit." Amnesty pointed to one report of a family being forced to evacuate a house with five minutes notice before the structure was razed by tank and attack helicopter fire. In other instances, houses have been obliterated by 500 pound bombs dropped from F-16 fighters, attacks Amnesty has suggested were solely for retribution. Under the Geneva Convention, destruction of "real or personal property" is "prohibited" unless it is "rendered absolutely necessary by military operations."

Occupying forces have surrounded the Iraqi village of Auja, Saddam Hussein's birthplace, with a fence topped with concertina wire. Residents of Auja have been issued identification cards, and must pass a US security checkpoint to enter or leave the village. (Agence France-Presse, Al-Jazeera)

Agence France-Presse:

» Associated Press: U.S. Troops Isolate Saddam's Birthplace

» Associated Press: U.S. puts clamp on Saddam's village

» Oneworld: U.S. War Tactics Questioned by Rights Groups

» Agence France-Press: US forces demolish Iraq homes

» Al Jazeera: US continues to humiliate Iraqis

Casualties to date: 22,000 Iraqis, 10,000 Americans

A recent report by medical charity Medact estimates that the total number of Iraqis killed as a direct result of the war is between 22,000 and 55,000 people. The report, entitled "Continuing Collateral Damage: the health and environmental costs of war on Iraq", also highlighted the long term health effects of the war, including a health crisis that is disproportionately affecting the young, women, and the poor. Ongoing crises in Iraq include a sharp increase in malnutrition, high maternal mortality, and a continued increase of water-borne diseases.

Recent figures from the Pentagon show that 9,675 US soldiers have been killed, wounded, injured, or evacuated for other reasons. "We really think there's an effort to hide the true cost in life, limb and the mental health of our soldiers," said Nancy Lessin of the anti-war group Military Families Speak Out. "There's a larger picture here of really trying to hide and obfuscate what's going on, and the wounded and injured are part of it." Other commentators have noted that George W. Bush has yet to attend a funeral of US troops killed in Iraq. (BBC, Orlando Sentinel)

BBC:

» Orlando Sentinel: Toll on U.S. troops in Iraq grows as wounded rolls approach 10,000

Starvation, AIDS on the Rise: UN Reports

Over 800 million people worldwide are not getting enough to eat, according to a recent report released by the United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Association (FAO). Though the number of starving people decreased by 37 million in the early 1990s, numbers have increased by 18 million in recent years. FAO director Jacques Diouf said that starvation "goes unnoticed unless the world's compassion is momentarily captured by war or natural disaster." "The problem is not so much the lack of food but the absence of a real political will," he added.

UNAIDS, the UN agency responsible for fighting Acquired Immune Deficiency Virus (AIDS), reported that the number of people infected with AIDS worldwide grew by 5 million in 2003. The report estimates that between 34 million and 46 million people are living with the virus, 26 million of them Africans. 3 million people died from AIDS in 2003, the report said. (AP)

Al Jazeera:

» Associated Press: Global AIDS epidemic hits new levels

International News: Sept. 27

Sat, 27 Sep 2003 21:16:38 +0000

African AIDS Crisis Linked to Globalization

Recent weeks have seen an escalation of urgent calls to deal with the African AIDS crisis. In a recent speech in Nairobi, Canadian United Nations special envoy Stephen Lewis pointed out that only 1 percent of the millions of Africans suffering from AIDS have access to even minimal medication. Lewis harshly critized rich western countries, calling the failure to provide minimal levels of aid "the grotesque obscenity of the modern world."

A paramilitary group in Colombia. The country is one of the principle recipients of US military aid. photo: Colombia Journal

"We can find over $200 billion to fight a war on terrorism? And we can't find the money to provide the antiretroviral treatment for all of those who need such treatment in Africa?"

In the months after George W. Bush famously pledged $15 billion in AIDS relief in his State of the Union speech, the proposed level of AIDS funding the 2004 budget has fallen to $2 billion--only $500,000 more than the aid pledged before the speech. Former South African president Nelson Mandela warned that the AIDS crisis threatens to wipe out all social progress made in Africa in the past decades. He said that a "social revolution" similar to that against apartheid was required to deal with the problem.

In Pretoria, South African Human Sciences Research Council labour expert Jocelyn Vass said that the global AIDS crisis is at its worst in the same places that have been negatively effected by globalization.

She said that HIV prevalence "reflects inequalities in social structure", which is why it is highest in sub-Saharan Africa, India and China." Vass also said that there was an "interdependency" between the response of the corporate sector to globalization and its response to AIDS. In both cases, she said, corporations responded by trying to limit the effect on profits by changing employment contracts, relocating to other countries, and slashing benefits.

The negative effects of globalization fall disproportionately on young adults, who also happened to be the most likely to be experimenting sexually, Vass explained. "Choices under these circumstances are extremely limited," she said, arguing that health educators' efforts to change sexual behaviour would have little effect if people could not even afford contraceptives. Major structural inequalities would have to be addressed before health education initiatives could work properly, she added. (News24, Washington Post, IOL, Toronto Star)

» News 24 (South Africa): Globalisation key to Aids

» IOL: Aids will wipe out all our gains: Mandela

» Toronto Star: AIDS help for Africa 'grotesque'

» Washington Post: Bono Recounts 'Row' With President Over AIDS Funds

* * *

Romanian Plasma Blobs May Expand Meaning of Life

Blobs of gaseous plasma created by Romanian physicists can grow, communicate, and replicate. The results of the research may call into question some basic assumptions about life on earth... and elsewhere. While most biologists believe that living cells arose from complex chemical processes lasting millions of years, the Romanian experiments show that given the right conditions, chemicals can self-organize into complex structures similar to cells in seconds. Other physicists are skeptical, but the most profound effect of the research may be on how we look for life elsewhere in the universe. "The cell-like spheres we describe could be at the origin of other forms of life we have not yet considered," said one researcher, implying that constraining the search for extraterrestrial life to other earth-like systems may be too limiting.

» New Scientist: Plasma blobs hint at new form of life

Australia Seeking a Nuclear Arsenal?

Recent changes to Australia's Nuclear Non-Proliferation Safeguards Act have renewed questions about the country's non-nuclear status. Sydney's Herald Sun compared the "anti-whistleblower" legislation to the laws used by Israel to jail former nuclear technician Mordechai Vanunu for 18 years. He was imprisoned for revealing details of Israel's secret nuclear weapons program. The legislation is part of overall tightened security at the government's Lucas Heights nuclear reactor, which is developing technology that scientists say could be used for civil purposes, or as a part of an effort to make a bomb.

Richard Broinowski, former ambassador and author of Fact or Fission: the truth about Australia's nuclear ambitions, said that the secrecy surrounding the facility was "suspicious" and added, "there are people in the Australian Government who would like to have the option of developing our technology to the stage where we could produce weapons if we needed to. I'm sure of that."

Government officials called the suggestion that Australia was working on weapons technology "ridiculous", and said that the new legislation was to prevent information from falling into terrorist hands.

* * *

Latinos Disproportionately Represented on Front Lines: Study

A recent study by the Pew Hispanic Center found that while Latinos make up nine and a half percent of the US armed forces, they are overrepresented in the most dangerous combat assignments, and make up over 17.5 percent of soldiers serving on front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan. The study also found a casualty rate of 13 percent for people of Hispanic origin serving in Iraq.

Many Latinos serving in Iraq are not US citizens. The Pentagon has set up programs to help new recruits speed up their citizenship applications, and critics have accused the government of taking advantage of the newly strict application process to provide cannon fodder. The government has denied targeting Latinos with the program, though one army recruiter noted a direct connection between the number of Latino applicants and the appearance of the citizenship program.

Jose Gutierrez, one of the first US soldiers to die in Iraq, was a Guatemalan citizen. (Inter Press Service)

» Inter Press Service: Hispanic Soldiers Die in Greater Numbers in Iraq

Amanpour, Rather: US Media "Muzzled"

With Iraq fading slowing from the headlines, several high-profile journalists have expressed concern with media coverage of the Iraq war. "I think the press was muzzled [in the runup to war in Iraq], and I think the press self-muzzled," said CNN war correspondent Christiane Amanpour. "There are horrors that were completely left out of this war," said MSNBC war correspondent Ashleigh Banfield. CBS anchor Dan Rather expressed similar sentiments in the aftermath of the Afghanistan war: "one finds oneself saying, 'I know the right question, but you know what? This is not exactly the right time to ask it'".

A quick survey conducted by the magazine Editor and Publisher found that American newspapers largely ignored George W. Bush's admission that there is "no evidence that Hussein was involved with the September 11 attacks". According to the magazine, "of America's 12 highest circulation daily papers, only the LA Times, Chicago Tribune and Dallas Morning News ran anything about it on the front page. In The New York Times, the story was relegated to page 22. USA Today: page 16."

» Niagara Falls Reporter: Media Ignores Bush Admission that Saddam not Involved in Sept. 11

» Alternet: MSNBC's Banfield Slams War Coverage

* * *

Sharp Increase in US Military Aid to Latin America

A new report released by three Washington foreign policy groups shows the US military aid to Latin American countries has almost tripled in the last five years, while economic and social aid has generall declined.

The report also complained that information about military aid is increasingly difficult to obtain, due to "systematic" efforts by the Bush administration to repeal measures that require reporting.

» Oneworld.net: Sharp Increase in U.S. Military Aid to Latin America

International News Briefs

Sat, 09 Aug 2003 01:01:13 +0000

AIDS Relief on Back Burner

China, Russia, US Partners on North Korea

Fight Looms over EU Constitution

Taiwan Straits Report Alters Travel Plans

AIDS Relief on Back Burner

Just months after pledging $15 billion dollars in support, the Bush Administration seems to be losing its interest on the fight against HIV / AIDS in Africa. Little mention of the initiative is brought up at daily White House and State Department press briefings, where the declared War on Terrorism continues to occupy Washington.

According to recent statistics, almost 29 million of the 42 million people infected worldwide live in Africa. In South Africa alone, some 5 million people are either HIV or AIDS positive and hundreds die each day. Cemeteries are being overloaded with corpses as one funeral follows another.

On May 27th, President George Bush signed the H.R. 1298 US Leadership against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Act of 2003. Some $15 billion had been pledged to fight disease but the Act ran into controversy when it was learned that as much as one third of the money was to be spent on abstinence-based prevention and faith-based organizations. Critics of the plan argue that the monies should be used to purchase Antiretroviral drugs and pursue similar initiatives. Others say that the Bush Administration should apply greater pressure on pharmaceutical companies to give up their monopolies and allow cheaper generic versions of the life prolonging, life saving drugs to be made available to those who can least afford them.

Michael Hunter

» Avert.org: Antiretroviral drug programs and initiatives
» US State Dept.: The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief

* * *

China, Russia, US Partners on North Korea

Despite their many differences, the national governments of China, Russia and the United States have found common ground when dealing with the thorny issue of North Korea's nuclear capabilities. The Chinese and Russians have been instrumental in encouraging North Korea to accept multilateral, multinational discussions and now it would appear that their efforts have paid off.

On Friday, August 1st, 2003 North Korean government indicated it will accept such discussions, something the country has previously rejected preferring instead to have direct talks with Washington. Senior State Department Official John Bolton said the move was, "very encouraging". However, Bolton called the North's leader Kim Jong-Il a "tyrannical dictator" and warned that talks alone could not resolve the issue. One of the key issues is how to create a verifiable inspections program in one of the world's most secretive nations.

The crisis heated up in October of 2002 when the North withdrew from the Non-Proliferation Treaty (for nuclear weapons) and began reprocessing spent nuclear fuel rods to make weapons-grade plutonium. Since then all UN Weapons Inspectors have been required to leave the country. (BBC, US State Dept., North Korean Government)

Michael Hunter

* * *

Fight Looms over EU Constitution

According to sources quoted by the BBC, the countries of Finland, Austria and Lithuania are set to fight Italy's desire to begin full Constitutional negotiations this October with an eye towards wrapping things up by the end of next year. All three nations insist that there is too much at stake for such a rushed timetable. Other issues that need to be addressed include the future role and power of the EU Presidency, as well as foreign policy and military alliances.

Kirsty Hughes, a senior fellow of the Center for European Policies in Brussels, argues that many of the smaller countries who joined the EU did so with the idea that they would get a chance to serve in the presidential capacity. The new proposal for a streamlined 15 member voting structure leaves it unclear how much influence the less populated countries will have. Meanwhile, Britain is concerned about mutual defense guarantees made outside of the NATO alliance and having to accept foreign policies that may be contrary to their individual needs and wishes.

Italy's Prime Minister Belusconi, who serves as the current president of the EU, promises "gentle violence" to ensure that no radical changes are made to the text of the Constitution as it now stands. (BBC)

Michael Hunter

» BBC: Call for more constitution debate
» BBC: EU constitution battles loom

* * *

Taiwan Straits Report Alters Travel Plans

Just days after the US Department of Defense reported to Congress on the state of China-Taiwan relations, a planned US trip by Taiwanese Vice President Annette Lu is said to be up in the air. Lu had planned to travel to the United States later this month and stop in four cities including New York. However, according to reports filed by the Washington Post, the New York visit has been scrubbed and the other stops are in jeopardy. State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher said he was "not aware" of any plans to block the visit.

The controversy follows close on the heels of the FY99 Appropriations Bill Report which noted China was increasing its readiness and ability to take back what China considers to be the renegade province. The report highlighted Beijing's plans to emphasize a campaign of "surprise, deception and shock" against Taiwan. The US Defense Department estimates that China plans to spend as much as $65 billion to purchase long range missiles and other equipment which would assist a military incursion.

The report to Congress has been required under the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) since April 10, 1979. At that time the Congress established the Act and its subsequent reports in order to demonstrate US commitment to Taiwan's state security. The US has angered the Chinese national government many times since 1949 by placing American warships in the Taiwan Straits in order to deter an aggressive takeover of the runaway province. Past reports have noted concern over the ease with which Chinese Nationals can obtain visas to the United States and the relative ease with which they are allowed to travel once in the country.

Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian said that "the Government will press ahead to cast off the diplomatic isolation Beijing has imposed". Taiwan was expelled from the United Nations in 1971 and its place was given to the People's Republic of China. (Washington Times, US Dept. of Defense)

Leslie Buckle

» Richard Bush: The US role in the Taiwan Straits issue
» US Department of Defense: The Security Situation in the Taiwan Straight
» Washington Times: Taiwan's vice president cancels stopover in New York

"Aggressive Crackdown" Will Escalate HIV Crisis

Fri, 11 Jul 2003 06:35:13 +0000

Vancouver is home the largest population of intravenous drug users in Canada and, not coincidentally, to one of the worst epidemics of HIV/AIDS in the developed world. As many as 40% of the addicts living in Vancouver's downtown eastside are living with HIV/AIDS.

A drug deal in Vancouver's downtown eastside: home to the highest population of intravenous drug users in Canada, and one of the "worst HIV epidemics in the developed world." photo: City of Vancouver

A report released by Human Rights Watch in May claims that with mounting police harrassment of drug users, the disease could spread much more quickly. Since April, the Vancouver Police Department has been engaged in "Operation Torpedo", an initiative aimed at getting drug dealers off the street. The ongoing operation has reportedly been successful in removing drug dealers from the streets.

But Human Rights Watch observers say that this success comes with an unacceptable cost. The report documents several instances where police harrassed and physically abused drug users who were not being charged with dealing. The report charges, "these actions, which violate Canadian and international human rights guarantees, contributed to driving drug users underground and away from life-saving HIV prevention and other health services."

With the Olympics coming to town, activists say that the temptation may be too strong for city officials and police to "clean up" the city's downtown eastside, which is uncomfortably nearby to some key Olympics sites, by force. But the report warns that indulging the pressure to cover up the city's problems could make them worse. "Experiences from around the world have shown that HIV transmission increases with the incidence of abuse and stigmatization faced by those most at risk of the disease."

Dru Oja Jay