HIV -- how to fight an epidemic of bad laws
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Not SyncedLet's begin with a story.
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Not SyncedOnce upon a time --
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Not Syncedwell actually less than two years ago --
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Not Syncedin a kingdom not so very far away,
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Not Syncedthere was a man
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Not Syncedwho traveled many miles
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Not Syncedto come to work at the jewel in the kingdom's crown --
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Not Syncedan internationally famous company.
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Not SyncedLet's call it Island Networks.
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Not SyncedNow this kingdom had many resources
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Not Syncedand mighty ambitions,
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Not Syncedbut the one thing it lacked was people.
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Not SyncedAnd so it invited workers from around the world
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Not Syncedto come and help it build the nation.
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Not SyncedBut in order to enter and to stay
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Not Syncedthese migrants had to pass a few tests.
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Not SyncedAnd so it was our man presented himself
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Not Syncedto authorities in the kingdom,
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Not Syncedlooking forward to settling into his new life.
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Not SyncedBut then something unexpected happened.
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Not SyncedThe medical personnel who took blood samples from the man
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Not Syncednever actually told him what they were testing for.
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Not SyncedHe wasn't offered counseling before or after the test,
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Not Syncedwhich is best medical practice.
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Not SyncedHe was never informed of the results of the test.
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Not SyncedAnd yet, a couple of weeks later,
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Not Syncedhe was picked up and taken to prison
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Not Syncedwhere he was subjected to a medical exam
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Not Syncedincluding a full-body search
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Not Syncedin full view of the others in the cell.
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Not SyncedHe was released, but then a day or two later,
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Not Syncedhe was taken to the airport and he was deported.
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Not SyncedWhat on earth did this man do
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Not Syncedto merit this treatment?
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Not SyncedWhat was his terrible crime?
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Not SyncedHe was infected with HIV.
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Not SyncedNow the kingdom is one of about 50 countries
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Not Syncedthat impose restrictions on the entry or stay
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Not Syncedof people living with HIV.
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Not SyncedThe kingdom argues
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Not Syncedthat its laws allow it to detain or deport foreigners
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Not Syncedwho pose a risk to the economy
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Not Syncedor the security or the public health
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Not Syncedor the morals of the state.
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Not SyncedBut these laws, when applied to people living with HIV,
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Not Syncedare a violation of international Human Rights agreements
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Not Syncedto which these countries are signatories.
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Not SyncedBut you know what?
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Not SyncedMatters of principle aside,
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Not Syncedpractically speaking, these laws drive HIV underground.
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Not SyncedPeople are less likely to come forth
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Not Syncedto be tested or treated or to disclose their condition,
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Not Syncednone of which helps these individuals
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Not Syncedor the communities these laws purport to protect.
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Not SyncedToday we can prevent the transmission of HIV.
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Not SyncedAnd with treatment, it is a manageable condition.
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Not SyncedWe are very far from the days
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Not Syncedwhen the only practical response to dread disease
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Not Syncedwas to have banished the afflicted --
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Not Syncedlike this, "The Exile of the Leper."
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Not SyncedSo you tell me why, in our age of science,
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Not Syncedwe still have laws and policies
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Not Syncedwhich come from an age of superstition.
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Not SyncedTime for a quick show of hands.
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Not SyncedWho here has been touched by HIV --
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Not Syncedeither because you yourself have the virus
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Not Syncedor you have a family member or a friend or a colleague
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Not Syncedwho is living with HIV?
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Not SyncedHands up.
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Not SyncedWow. Wow.
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Not SyncedThat's a significant number of us.
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Not SyncedYou know better than anyone
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Not Syncedthat HIV brings out
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Not Syncedthe best and the worst in humanity.
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Not SyncedAnd the laws reflect these attitudes.
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Not SyncedI'm not just talking about laws on the books,
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Not Syncedbut laws as they are enforced on the streets
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Not Syncedand laws as they are decided in the courts.
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Not SyncedAnd I'm not just talking about laws
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Not Syncedas they relate to people living with HIV,
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Not Syncedbut people who are at greatest risk of infection --
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Not Syncedpeople such as those who inject drugs or sex workers
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Not Syncedor men who have sex with men
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Not Syncedor transgendered persons
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Not Syncedor migrants or prisoners.
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Not SyncedAnd in many parts of the world that includes women and children
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Not Syncedwho are especially vulnerable.
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Not SyncedNow there are laws in many parts of the world
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Not Syncedwhich reflect the best of human nature.
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Not SyncedThese laws treat people touched by HIV
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Not Syncedwith compassion and acceptance.
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Not SyncedThese laws respect universal Human Rights
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Not Syncedand they are grounded in evidence.
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Not SyncedThese laws ensure that people living with HIV
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Not Syncedand those at greatest risk
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Not Syncedare protected from violence and discrimination
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Not Syncedand that they get access to prevent and to treatment.
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Not SyncedUnfortunately, these good laws
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Not Syncedare counter-balanced by a mass
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Not Syncedof really bad law --
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Not Syncedlaw which is grounded in moral judgement
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Not Syncedand in fear and in misinformation,
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Not Syncedlaws which specifically punish people living with HIV
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Not Syncedor those at greatest risk.
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Not SyncedThese laws fly in the face of science,
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Not Syncedand they are grounded in prejudice
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Not Syncedand in ignorance and in a rewriting of tradition
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Not Syncedand a selective reading of religion.
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Not SyncedBut you know what? You don't have to take my word for it.
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Not SyncedWe're going to hear from two people
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Not Syncedwho are on the sharp end of the law.
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Not SyncedThe first is Nick Rhoades. He's an American.
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Not SyncedAnd he was convicted under the U.S. State of Iowa's law
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Not Syncedon HIV transmission and exposure --
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Not Syncedneither of which offense he actually committed.
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Not Synced(Video) Nick Rhoades: If something is against the law
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Not Syncedthen that is telling society
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Not Syncedthat is unacceptable, that's bad behavior.
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Not SyncedAnd I think the severity of that punishment
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Not Syncedtells you how bad you are as a person.
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Not SyncedYou're a class B felon,
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Not Syncedlifetime sex offender.
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Not SyncedYou are a very, very, very bad person.
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Not SyncedAnd you did a very, very bad thing.
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Not SyncedAnd so that's just programmed into you.
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Not SyncedAnd you go through the correctional system
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Not Syncedand everyone's telling you the same thing.
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Not SyncedAnd you're just like, I'm a very bad person.
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Not SyncedShereen El-Feki: It's not just a question
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Not Syncedof unfair or ineffective laws.
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Not SyncedSome countries have good laws,
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Not Syncedlaws which could stem the tide of HIV.
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Not SyncedThe problem is that these laws are flouted.
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Not SyncedBecause stigma gives unofficial license
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Not Syncedto treat people living with HIV
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Not Syncedor those at greatest risk
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Not Syncedunlike other citizens.
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Not SyncedAnd this is exactly what happened
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Not Syncedto Helma and Dongo from Namibia.
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Not Synced(Video) Helma: I found out
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Not Syncedwhen I went to the hospital for a pregnancy check-up.
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Not SyncedThe nurse announced that every pregnant woman
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Not Syncedmust also be tested for HIV that day.
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Not SyncedI took the test and the result showed I was positive.
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Not SyncedThat's the day I found out.
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Not SyncedThe nurse said to me, "Why should you people bcome pregnant
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Not Syncedwhen you know you are HIV positive?
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Not SyncedWhy are you pregnant when you are living positive?"
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Not SyncedI am sure now that is the reason they sterilized me.
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Not SyncedBecause I am HIV positive.
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Not SyncedThey didn't give the forms to me
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Not Syncedor explain what was in the form.
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Not SyncedThe nurse just came with it
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Not Syncedalready marked where I had to sign.
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Not SyncedAnd with the labor pain,
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Not SyncedI didn't have the strength to ask them to read it to me.
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Not SyncedI just signed.
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Not SyncedSE: Helma and Nick and our man in the kingdom
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Not Syncedare among the 34 million people living with HIV
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Not Syncedaccording to recent estimates.
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Not SyncedThey're the lucky ones
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Not Syncedbecause they're still alive.
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Not SyncedAccording to those same estimates,
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Not Syncedin 2010 1.8 million people died
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Not Syncedof AIDS related causes.
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Not SyncedThese are terrible and tragic figures.
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Not SyncedBut if we look a little more broadly at the statistics,
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Not Syncedwe actually see some reason for hope.
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Not SyncedLooking globally, the number of new infections of HIV is declining.
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Not SyncedAnd looking globally as well,
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Not Synceddeaths are also starting to fall.
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Not SyncedThere are many reasons for these positive developments,
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Not Syncedbut one of the most remarkable
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Not Syncedis in the increase in the number of people around the world
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Not Syncedon anti-retroviral therapy,
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Not Syncedthe medicines they need to keep their HIV in check.
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Not SyncedNow there are still many problems.
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Not SyncedOnly about half of the people who need treatment
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Not Syncedare currently receiving it.
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Not SyncedIn some parts of the world --
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Not Syncedlike here in the Middle East and North Africa --
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Not Syncednew infections are rising and so are deaths.
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Not SyncedAnd the money, the money we need
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Not Syncedfor the global response to HIV,
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Not Syncedthat is shrinking.
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Not SyncedBut for the first time
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Not Syncedin three decades into this epidemic
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Not Syncedwe have a real chance to come to grips with HIV.
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Not SyncedBut in order to do that
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Not Syncedwe need to tackle an epidemic of really bad law
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Not SyncedIt's for this reason
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Not Syncedthat the Global Commission on HIV and the Law,
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Not Syncedof which I'm a member,
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Not Syncedwas established by the agencies of the United Nations --
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Not Syncedto look at the ways that legal environments
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Not Syncedare affecting people living with HIV
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Not Syncedand those at greatest risk,
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Not Syncedand to recommend what should be done
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Not Syncedto make the law an ally, not an enemy,
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Not Syncedof the global response to HIV.
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Not SyncedLet me give you just one example
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Not Syncedof the way a legal environment
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Not Syncedcan make a positive difference.
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Not SyncedPeople who inject drugs
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Not Syncedare one of those groups I mentioned.
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Not SyncedThey're at high risk of HIV
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Not Syncedthrough contaminated injection equipment
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Not Syncedand other risk-related behaviors.
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Not SyncedIn fact, one in every 10 new infections of HIV
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Not Syncedis among people who inject drugs.
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Not SyncedNow drug use or possession
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Not Syncedis illegal in almost every country.
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Not SyncedBut some countries take a harder line on this than others.
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Not SyncedIn Thailand people who use drugs,
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Not Syncedor are merely suspected of using drugs,
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Not Syncedare placed in detention centers,
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Not Syncedlike the one you see here,
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Not Syncedwhere they are suppose to clean up.
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Not SyncedThere is absolutely no evidence
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Not Syncedto show that throwing people into detention
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Not Syncedcures their drug dependence.
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Not SyncedThere is, however, ample evidence
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Not Syncedto show that incarcerating people
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Not Syncedincreases their risk of HIV and other infections.
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Not SyncedWe know how to reduce HIV transmission and other risks
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Not Syncedin people who inject drugs.
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Not SyncedIt's called harm reduction,
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Not Syncedand it involves, among other things,
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Not Syncedproviding clean needles and syringes,
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Not Syncedoffering opioid substitution therapy
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Not Syncedand other evidence-based treatments
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Not Syncedto reduce drug dependence.
- Title:
- HIV -- how to fight an epidemic of bad laws
- Speaker:
- Shereen El-Feki
- Description:
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There is an epidemic of HIV, and with it an epidemic of bad laws -- laws that effectively criminalize being HIV positive. At the TEDxSummit in Doha, TED Fellow Shereen El-Feki gives a forceful argument that these laws are not only based in stigma, but are helping the disease spread.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 15:28
Jenny Zurawell edited English subtitles for HIV -- how to fight an epidemic of bad laws | ||
Jenny Zurawell approved English subtitles for HIV -- how to fight an epidemic of bad laws | ||
Jenny Zurawell accepted English subtitles for HIV -- how to fight an epidemic of bad laws | ||
Jenny Zurawell edited English subtitles for HIV -- how to fight an epidemic of bad laws | ||
Timothy Covell edited English subtitles for HIV -- how to fight an epidemic of bad laws | ||
Timothy Covell added a translation |