The launch of the Vienna Declaration in the lead up to the international AIDS 2010 conference emphasizes the importance of responding to AIDS with evidence-based policies and programmes.
Sign the Vienna Declaration… Individual and organisational endorsements may be made online at: www.viennadeclaration.com
The official conference declaration calls for the reorientation of drug policy from the “War on Drugs” approach to an evidence-based approach that recognises the human rights and medical needs of those who use illicit drugs.
This is particular pertinent for countries such as Iran and those in Eastern Europe where the AIDS epidemic is growing due the growing number illicit drug users – mostly heroin addicts who share needles and have access to an abundant and cheap supply of heroin coming out of Afghanistan
The current “War on Drugs” approach has impeded efforts to prevent HIV through the use of interventions such as needle and syringe programmes and opioid substitution therapy. Access to these interventions is limited despite evidence demonstrating their effectiveness. Nobel Laureates and world leaders in science, medicine, economics, and from civil society have already endorsed the declaration, now it is your chance to do so…