SIDA y VIH
No blame
July 29, 2010Zimbabwe's Deputy Minister for Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment, Tongai Matutu, has become embroiled in a storm over comments made appearing to pass judgment over people living with HIV and AIDS.
Speaking at a policy launch the Deputy Minister said "It takes a lot of effort for one to get infected by the (HIV) virus. We should instead consider supporting disabled people because they did not contribute in their getting disabled."
The statement has been greeted with dismay. The secretary of the Zimbabwe Activists Against HIV/AIDS dismissed the comments as lacking sense. The executive director of the Zimbabwe National Network for People Living with HIV, Dr Tabona Shoko, called for an end to blame and reiterated that HIV can be acquired in a variety of ways. "The basic problem is of moralising and there is prejudice informing such comments," said Dr Shoko.
Deputy Minister Matutu has sought to clarify his remarks, claiming he was trying to engage his country in the debate about disability, neglected for many years by the Zimbabwean regime.
Blaming people for their HIV status helps no one. In fact, stigma and discrimination feeds the epidemic. Learn more about the impact of HIV on Zimbabwe.
Source: AllAfrica Accessed: 29/07/10
Goodnight Vienna
July 26, 2010The International AIDS Conference in Vienna drew to a close on Friday. More than 20,000 attendees have made their way home, most of them galvanized by a work hard, play hard week of networking, sharing, learning and generally drinking in the special atmosphere generated by what may be regarded as the premier gathering of HIV professionals and policy makers.
The week's headline story, picked up by the world's media and delivered in a presentation interrupted by bursts of spontaneous applause, was the announcement of early trial results showing that a vaginal microbicide gel laced with the antiretroviral tenofovir delivered some protection against the virus in women. The promise of this innovation is such that it is likely that the next stage clinical trial will be fast-tracked and widely supported.
The week also saw revisions to adult treatment guidelines issued by the World Health Organization. These amounted to a declaration of the safety and efficiency of antiretroviral drugs and urged countries to adopt earlier treatment. UNAIDS rallied for Treatment 2.0: in essence simpler treatment delivered by lower cost, more efficient health systems. Ambitious, this would see 15 million people on treatment, up from the 5 million currently on antiretroviral therapy. The cold reality of achieving this: an annual treatment bill estimated in the region of 26 billion USD.
Conference also highlighted that, in spite of the evidence that it works (reducing HIV incidence in newborns down to less than 2% in well resourced settings), children are impacted by the lack of treatments needed to prevent mother to child transmission of HIV. More WHO guidelines were released in support of earlier HIV testing in pregnancy coupled with earlier treatment. The Head of HIV and AIDS at WHO, Gottfried Hirnschall, said "child health is inextricably linked to the health of it's mother...ensuring HIV positive mothers have access to treatment... will greatly enhance outcomes for their children."
Circumcision continued to dominate discussions surrounding transmission prevention in heterosexual men. It has been shown to reduce infection rate by 60% but in the 12 highest prevalence countries less than 1 in 10 men are circumcised. Conference heard of plans to increase this to a rate of 80%, which equates to surgery on a dizzying 41 million men, all of which must be performed safely and efficiently.
With the unveiling pre-conference of the Vienna Declaration, it was always clear that the issue of injecting drug use- and it's contribution to HIV spread- was going to be a hot topic. Governments faced demands to decriminalize both drug users and those who work to make the improve the health (and status in society) of injecting drug users.
Funding, particularly in support of the 2010 target of universal access to treatment, care and support, was examined and largely found wanting. Oxfam has already made a statement that the conference must be considered "a disappointment" with "no real commitments" being made to boosting access to services. The host country, Austria, was also heavily criticized for it's lack of fiscal commitment to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Probably most pilloried, however, was President Barack Obama, who, it was claimed by Eric Goosby, Head of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, has been 'hurt' by claims he has backtracked on HIV and AIDS. In taped contributions to the conference both President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton restated their desire to tackle the HIV epidemic in a broad, sustainable and effective way. Ms Clinton, in a rebuttal of the criticism levied against the United States, called access to prevention, treatment and care "a universal, shared responsibility." Meanwhile Michel Kazatchkine, executive director of the Global Fund, called for donors to maintain their nerve, in the face of economic pressures, citing the growing reality of clinic waiting lists.
The International AIDS Conference saw participation in almost 250 sessions and presentation of well over 6000 abstracts. It is likely that the best, most lasting, aspects of the conference will only become apparent in the coming days, away from the hothouse atmosphere of Vienna. There's much to absorb- and ever more work to be done- before the next conference takes place in Washington DC in 2012.
Source: International AIDS Conference Accessed: 26/07/10
Red faced teachers
July 23, 2010A report released on 23rd July 2010 by UK education watchdog OFSTED suggests that some children receive poor sex education because teachers cannot overcome their embarrassment at having to tackle the subject.Teenagers themselves stated that the education they received came "too late", with much of the subject being covered as a lesson in human biology with far too little lesson time spent covering relationships.
In more than one third of the schools visited by inspectors over a 3 year period students' grasp of sex and relationship education was rated as "no better than satisfactory." In 3 schools sex education provision was graded "inadequate".
Teachers who lacked the confidence, or knowledge, to tackle the subject area were found to have left students without the opportunity to explore what relationships are, discuss managing risks around sexual behaviours, negotiating saying 'no' and broader issues such as breakdown in relationships.
AVERT has more information on sex education that works plus comprehensive information on sex and relationships, designed for specifically for teens.
Source: The Independent Accessed 23/07/10
Universal Access- a failure?
July 23, 2010
Another overarching theme of the XVIIIth International AIDS Conference has been the issue of Universal Access to prevention, treatment and care.
In 2005, the G8, followed by country leaders, resolved to work towards achieving universal access to HIV and AIDS prevention, treatment and care by 2010. Access to treatment has received a lot of focus and many countries had hoped to expand their services to reach around 80% of HIV positive people who need ARVs. In reality, the average level of coverage worldwide is only 42%.
The Conference coincided with the last major push towards achieving the goal of universal access to treatment with organizations such as the Global Fund entreating donor governments to meet their funding commitments. Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director of the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria said ‘Universal Access is not an elusive concept but something that we should be able to achieve…’ , this achievement being entirely dependent on funding.
As countries and funding organizations face a shortage of funds, difficult and heartbreaking choices have to be made. Uganda, along with other countries, faces funding issues that forces medics to turn patients away from clinics because there are not enough antiretroviral drugs available. Low and middle-income countries have to make tough decisions on drug choices. This has seen people being switched back to d4T, a drug which has severe side effects, because it is cheaper. As funding becomes tight, low and middle-income countries fall short of the 80% target. This begs the question was it ever possible for these countries to succeed?
So, if it is becoming obvious that many low and middle-income countries will not meet the ambitious target of 80%, should the idea of Universal Access be deemed a failure? Huge gains have been made to expand services and funding has significantly increased since 2002 when only US.2 billion was donated to help fight HIV and AIDS. Highlighting the fact that countries have not expanded treatment programmes to 80% of the people who need access to ARVs risks undermining all gains to the level of failure. As Michel Sidibé, Director of UNAIDS put it; ‘Our success will not be measured by increased coverage but by the number of lives we are able to save.’
While the targets may have been ambitious, they have galvanized donor governments into action and this momentum cannot be lost. If targets are ever to be met, donor governments must continue funding- even in times of economic downturn. New and novel approaches need to be made in order to ensure that the money available is spent well.
Source: International AIDS Conference Accessed: 23/07/10
Rights Here, Right Now
July 23, 2010The overarching theme of the XVIIIth International AIDS Conference has been the need to emphasis the critical connection between human rights and HIV.
Even the choice of conference host city, Vienna, was deliberate- made to highlight the impact of the epidemic in Eastern Europe, just a few kilometres away, which sees HIV particularly concentrated in injecting drug users. While it is unsafe injecting practices that spread the virus, scientifically proven harm reduction strategies, including needle and syringe exchanges and opioid substitution programmes, are often criminalised, notably in Russia. Even Ukraine, which for some years had embraced opioid substitution in a bid to stem what is Europe's fastest growing epidemic, has recently demonstrated a reversal of policy. There has been an increasing number of raids on clinics offering substitution treatments and activists say doctors and patients have been subject to intimidation. Two doctors face drug trafficking charges, branded as drug dealers for prescribing medications to legally registered patients. The so-called Vienna Declaration is this year's International AIDS Conference's official statement, rallying scientists, activists and governments to incorporate scientific evidence into illicit drug policy making.
A number of presentations have dealt with the impact of criminalizing men who have sex with men. This year has seen fierce debate centred around the conviction, subsequently quashed, in Malawi of two men entering into an engagement ceremony. In Africa it is only South Africa whose laws ensure equal rights for homosexuality. In 38 out of the 53 countries on the continent homosexuality is criminalized. In some countries the ultimate penalty is death. 15 Asian countries also penalise consenual same-sex acts. We know that where men who have sex with men are stigmatised, either in law or by general, informal hostility and bullying, they are driven outside of targeted HIV prevention efforts, hampering efforts to effectively fight the HIV and AIDS epidemic.
Vienna has seen several protests characterized by the waving of red umbrellas, symbolically championing the rights of sex workers. Delivering the Jonathan Mann Memorial Lecture, Meena Saraswathi Seshu of SANGRAM spoke of the returns she has seen after involving sex workers in the delivery of rights-centred responses to the HIV epidemic. Shifting the perception of sex workers from social pariahs to educators helped them gain self and community respect. It also furthered SANGRAM's agenda of delivering comprehensive sexuality education and helped to initiate a debate around the previously hidden issue of gender based violence.
Prisons remain hotspots for HIV, providing excellent breeding grounds for the virus. Sex between inmates, injecting drug use and improvised tattooing are the main triggers for the spread. Matters are not helped, however, by prison overcrowding, corruption, poor access to condoms, lack of harm reduction strategies and sub-optimal HIV testing and treatment. The right to humane treatment for prisoners is fundamental, regardless of their crime, and this must include protecting their health rights. We need to address the fact that it is vulnerable and neglected people, which by definition will usually include prisoners, who are often the first to be denied lifesaving antiretroviral treatment.
Back in 1987 Dr Jonathan Mann, founding director of WHO's Global Programme on AIDS, stated that "how societies treat (HIV Positive) people will not only test fundamental values, but will likely make the difference between success and failure of AIDS control strategies at the national level. To the extent that we exclude (HIV positive) persons from society, we endanger society... this is the message of realism and tolerance." 23 years on AVERT joins AIDS activists in continuing to call for human rights based approaches to prevention. Modified behaviour is more likely to be exhibited by empowered people, better targeted by, and more able to choose to act on, HIV prevention messages.
Source: International AIDS Conference Accessed: 23/07/10
AIDS funding falling flat
July 22, 2010A number of presentations at the XVIIIth International AIDS Conference, and many hours of heated debate among delegates, have highlighted the fear that funding to tackle the HIV epidemic is falling.
A report commissioned by the Kaiser Family Foundation and UNAIDS, released to coincide with the Conference, shows that international assistance committed and disbursed by the G8, European Commission and other donor governments fell by over 1% (from 7.7 billion USD in 2008 to 7.6 billion USD in 2009.) In the previous six years donations had increased. UNAIDS estimates that in 2009 there was a gap of 7.7 billion USD between the resources available from all sources and the 23.6 billion USD the agency estimated was needed to address the epidemic in low- and middle- income countries.
"Reductions in investment on AIDS programmes are hurting the AIDS response" said Michel Sidibé, head of UNAIDS.
In this context South African Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe called on the world to restate their commitment to universal access for HIV/AIDS treatment. For every one person on antiretroviral treatment, two more are in need of it.
AVERT has more information on sources of, and issues surrounding, funding for the HIV and AIDS epidemic.
Source: The Henry J Kaiser Family Foundation , Accessed: 22/07/10
"Universal access needs universal support and assistance"
July 22, 2010South Africa has an estimated 5.7 million people living with HIV and AIDS. The nation's Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi made a keynote presentation at the XVIIIth International AIDS Conference detailing South Africa's recent progress in scaling up both treatment and prevention, concepts he said were, until recently, seen as conflicting.
The South African constitution makes a commitment to "improve the quality of life for citizens and free the potential for each person." Achieving universal access to HIV prevention and treatment will, Motsoaledi stated, help to achieve this improvement.
South Africa's challenges are huge:
HIV prevalence among pregnant women reached a high of 30% and has stabilized at 29% for the past 3 years.
43% of maternal mortality is linked to HIV.
57% of deaths in children aged under 5 are related to HIV.
There is a TB-HIV coinfection rate of 73%. One third of all South Africans, it is estimated, will contract tuberculosis in their lifetime.
South Africa's strategy:
The National Strategic Plan is inspired by the principle of universal access. By 2011 the aim is to reduce new infection by 50%. Provision of care, treatment and support should, by the end of next year, reach 80% of those who need it.
The HIV Counselling and Testing Campaign has an ambitious target of 15 million people being tested by 2011. Among the first to be tested were President Zuma and his Ministers. This, according to Motsoaledi, sends a "clear message that this is the way to tackle HIV and that it can be done in a way that respects human rights... a way that avoids criminalisation and combats stigma."
Treatment scale up in South Africa was a commitment made by Zuma on World AIDS Day 2009. New treatment thresholds have been implemented since April 2010. Pregnant women and those coinfected with TB will commence treatment as soon as their CD4 count declines to 350 or less. Infants under the age of one will be treated regardless of CD4 level. PMTCT will commence at the 14th week of pregnancy.
Treatment is now becoming more widely available. By the end of 2011 all 4000 public health facilities in South Africa will be able to initiate patients on antiretroviral treatment. The need to train health worker and task shift has been recognised and enshrined.
Funding for this scale up of treatment will partially come from improvements to the efficiency of the health system. There will also be increased funding for medication totalling 715 million USD over the next 3 years. 83% of the HIV budget will, it is hoped, come from within the country.
Speaking about the wider issues facing high prevalence nations, and in common with many speakers at Conference, Motsoaledi called for donors to restate their commitment to HIV funding. He also urged nations to ensure accountability for both donated and public money. Civil society engagement was vital in providing the conscience to ensure spending was wise and appropriate.
HIV investment, far from starving other diseases of money, leads to substantial improvements across all health spending and has driven advances in health development throughout the continent.
AVERT is impressed by the vigour of the South African approach and the passion demonstrated by Motsoaledi's leadership. We watch with interest, and are receiving first hand accounts from our project partners in South Africa, how the new programmes are rolled out and how close the targets come to being met.
Source: XVIIIth International AIDS Conference , Accessed: 22/07/10
50 something...
July 22, 2010... and HIV positive?
The XVIIIth International AIDS Conference in Vienna has heard that in the UK there has been a surge in the number of new infections recorded in people aged over 50 years. According to Health Protection Agency (HPA) researchers 710 new cases were recorded in 2007 compared to the 229 newly diagnosed infections in this age group in 2000. A study in the journal HIV Medicine, using figures collated by the regional World Health Organization, shows that this trend is replicated across Europe. In 2007 Western Europe saw 12.9% of newly reported HIV infections diagnosed in people aged over 50.
These figures highlight the need for safer sex, using a condom, to be a lifelong practice. HIV prevention campaigns also need to be broad enough to be absorbed by the whole at-risk population, rather than targeted at younger people.
The HPA's data also highlighted the fact that diagnosis often happens far later in the over 50s. This means a more compromised immune system and has a significant impact on disease progression. It also suggests that the figures available may be under-reporting the scale of the issue, with HIV and AIDS symptoms being dismissed as age related conditions. Testing is clearly key.
The conference has also heard of the impact HIV has on people who have lived long-term with the virus. The first generation of people treated with antiretroviral therapy are now reaching their 'second youth' but, living with HIV, face an old age that may be beset by medical problems, social isolation, stigma and worries about finance in comparison to their HIV negative peers.
Gottfried Hirnschall, director of HIV/AIDS at the World Health Organization, said "We have to discuss this subject... ageing with HIV is... a clinical and social challenge."
Source: International AIDS Conference
Encouraging results, cautious optimism
July 20, 2010The XVIII International AIDS conference, currently being held in Vienna, is buzzing with excitement at the upcoming presentation of promising data yielded by the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa ( CAPRISA).
Almost 900 women have participated in a trial involving a vaginal gel that, it was hoped, would confer protection against HIV and genital herpes. The microbicide involved contained low concentrations of tenofovir (Viread), an antiretroviral drug commonly used orally in the treatment of HIV.
50% of the women were assigned the tenofovir microbicide, with the others using a similarly packaged placebo gel. In each case the gel was applied 12 hours prior to intercourse and again shortly after sex, a maximum of two doses in 24 hours. Trial participants used the gel for a minimum of one year and a maximum of 2.5 years. Each month the women were provided with HIV prevention counselling, condoms and treatment for any sexually transmitted infection. They were also screened to check for any side effects to the microbicide.
Results suggest that HIV infection was cut by 50% after one year of microbicide usage. The infection rate was reduced by 39% after 2.5 years of using the microbicide. This equates to a total of 38 new HIV infections among those assigned the tenofovir microbicide. In the placebo arm of the trial there were 60 new infections.
An antiretroviral microbicide has long been a holy grail of HIV prevention research. It has been seen as an important potential tool as women are biologically more vulnerable to HIV infection (being twice as likely to acquire the virus through heterosexual intercourse.) It is estimated that women account for 60% of new infections. A self-applied vaginal gel that could act as a barrier to the spread of HIV would particularly empower women who for various reasons are unable to negotiate condom use in their sexual relationships.
AVERT recognises the CAPRISA results as significant. We do urge caution, however. The trial is a phase 2B study and further research will be carried out, involving a larger and more diverse study group. It is important to recognise that any microbicide is a long way from coming to market. The active agent tenofovir has previously been linked to significant side effects in oral dosage and much more study needs to be done to ascertain definitively its safety, especially when applied to the genital tract, even at a lower (1%) concentration. The impact of the gel on the sexual partner and any resultant pregnancies will have to be measured. There are also issues around drug resistance that will need to be explored, particularly given the use-as-required dosing method followed by this trial. Lastly, science must recognise that there may be cultural difficulties around usage of a microbicide.
Source: International AIDS conference Accessed: 20/07/10
Treating AIDS is not a crime!
July 16, 2010On the eve of the International AIDS Conference in Vienna AVERT adds it's voice to Physicians for Human Rights' campaign calling for freedom for two Iranian doctors detained since June 2008.
In a closed trial held in Tehran, Dr Arash Alaei and Dr Kamiar Alaei, both well-known HIV specialists, were, among several charges, accused of conspiring with an 'enemy government'. The evidence for their 'crime' appears to stem from travel made to global AIDS conferences and liaison with international health workers in support of their work in the HIV sphere. The brothers were convicted of the charges in January 2009. Kamiar's sentence was 3 years, with Arash receiving 6 years.
Only collaboration and knowledge sharing among the world's scientists and medical researchers will effectively prevent the spread of HIV or, ultimately, yield a cure for AIDS.
Please add your name to a petition addressed to the Iranian President, His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Source: Treatment Access Campaign, Accessed: 16/07/10
Safer sex works!
July 14, 2010Also included in the UNAIDS Outlook report, released 13th July 2010, is evidence demonstrating that new HIV infections among young people aged between 15 - 24 years are declining in the 15 countries most affected by HIV.UNAIDS believes that this is directly attributable to HIV prevention programmes, what Michel Sidibé hails as a 'prevention revolution', with a stress on the reality of HIV and AIDS and the need to practice safer sex. In practice this has been demonstrated by putting off the age of first time sex, greater reported condom use among both men and women plus a decrease in the number of sexual partners taken.
Kenya saw the biggest drop in prevalence among 15 - 24 year olds, seeing a reduction of 60% between 2000 and 2005. Ethiopia, Côte d'Ivoire, Malawi, Burundi, Haiti, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Rwanda and Lesotho also saw reductions. Most of the figures have been extracted from data collected from antenatal clinics where HIV tests are routinely offered to pregnant women.
Source: UNAIDS , Accessed: 14/07/10
Treatment 2.0
July 14, 2010The latest Outlook report, released on 13th July 2010, outlines UNAIDS' vision for a radical rethinking of HIV treatment strategy. Implementing what UNAIDS have dubbed Treatment 2.0, it is argued, could avert 10 million AIDS deaths by 2025 and reduce new infections by up to one million per year.
Michel Sidibé, executive director of UNAIDS, detailed the five areas of progress Treatment 2.0 will demand:
A once daily fixed dose combination treatment that is less toxic, is not so vulnerable to adherence breaches and requires less laboratory and clinical support.
Maximising access to treatment. This builds on current thinking that treatment plays a role in preventing new infection.
Reduction in costs of treatment. Non-drug costs are a particular target for this strategy.
Boost numbers being tested to ensure early diagnosis and commence treatment at the earliest opportunity.
Task-shifting: involve the community in managing treatment to encourage adherence and enhance access to programmes.
Data in support of the new UNAIDS approach will be presented at the International AIDS Conference, to be held in Vienna 18th - 23rd July.
Source: UNAIDS, Accessed: 14/07/10
Prevention will be key to United States domestic AIDS strategy
July 13, 2010President Obama will officially launch the first United States National HIV/AIDS Strategy on 13th July 2010. Its aims will include cutting the infection rate by 25%, testing 90% of those already infected and getting 85% of infected people on to treatment within 3 months of diagnosis. It is hoped that the increased number of people accessing treatment will be reflected by uptake among the most at-risk populations.
The accompanying report says the aspirations of the plan are bold, with decisive action necessary to stave off rising new infections. Prevention strategies, including but not limited to abstinence, will be stressed. Education and support will, it is hoped, encourage people to reduce risky behaviours. The report also addresses the costs and challenges the country faces in meeting the needs of people living with HIV.
Latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) figures show 56,300 people are newly infected each year. The plan hopes to see this reduced to 42,225 by 2015. At present 79% of people with HIV know their status- the national strategy aims to raise this to 90%. Currently 65% of newly diagnosed patients are accessing treatment within 3 months and it is hoped that this threshold will rise to 85%.
The United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief was set up during the George W Bush presidency to address the global AIDS epidemic but there has not, to date, been a coherent domestic strategy. More than 1.1 million people in the United States are living with HIV and AIDS, according to the CDC. As at 1st July 2010 2100 people in 11 states were reported to be on waiting lists for subsidised HIV treatment under the US AIDS Drug Assistance Program.
Source: Reuters , Accessed: 13/07/10
A possible step forward for HIV science?
July 09, 2010The science towards a potential vaccine for HIV and AIDS may be looking more like a reality after a recent study showed promising data. Naturally occurring antibodies have been discovered that reportedly neutralise more than 90% of all strains of HIV. This discovery could create a broad treatment for combating HIV. However, the research is still in early days.
HIV is difficult to treat because when it enters the body it quickly searches for a protein called CD4, which the spikes of the virus stick to in order to gain entry to human cells. The newly discovered antibodies (VRC01 and VRC02) interrupts this process and binds to the spike of the virus, stopping the virus from entering the cell and replicating. Until recently researchers have found that the best antibodies to fight HIV only work on around 30-40% of known strains. This has meant that while some of the virus will be neutralised, a large proportion of HIV will be left unchallenged. Researchers have struggled to find an antibody that targets a large portion of HIV strains.
This latest discovery is being dubbed as a 'renaissance in HIV prevention and treatment' and offers some hope that a vaccine can be created. However, the research is in the very early stage of development so it might be a while until a product is developed. Until then, effective prevention measures can avoid HIV transmission but it is a development that will be watched with interest.
For more information about the science of HIV, take a look at our HIV structure and Life cycle page.
(Sources: Los Angeles Times and Science accessed 09.07.10)
Namibia lifts HIV travel ban
July 09, 2010Legislation came into effect in Namibia on 1st July 2010 removing travel restrictions on people living with HIV and AIDS.
UNAIDS welcomed the decision, stating that any restrictions on movement based on HIV status are discriminatory and a violation of human rights. Such limitations do not prevent transmission of the virus nor protect public health.
Both China and the United States have lifted travel bans in 2010. Restrictions remain in place in 51 countries. 22 countries continue to deport people who are discovered to be HIV positive.
Find out more on the negative impact of stigma on people with HIV. For more information on countries with travel restrictions please visit www.hivtravel.org
Source: AllAfrica Accessed: 09/07/10
Supreme Court rules in favour of two gay asylum seekers
July 07, 2010Two men have won the right to stay in the UK following a ruling by the Supreme Court. The men had argued that they faced persecution on the grounds of their sexuality if they were returned to their home countries, Cameroon- where homosexuality is punishable by jail sentences ranging from six months to five years- and Iran, where homosexuals may be subject to public flogging or even execution.
Lord Hope, delivering the Supreme Court decision, said "to compel a homosexual person to pretend that his sexuality does not exist or suppress the behaviour by which to manifest itself is to deny his fundamental right to be who he is...Homosexuals are as much entitled to freedom of association with others who are of the same sexual orientation as people who are straight."
The ruling, made by the United Kingdom's highest legal authority and final court of appeal, will affect the way all future asylum claims made on the basis of sexual orientation are decided. Detailed guidance will now be passed to Home Office tribunals and the country's lower courts advising them how such claims be treated. Until this judgment it was common for asylum requests to be refused on the grounds that sexual identity could be hidden by behaving discreetly.
Source: BBC News, Accessed: 07/07/10