[COMMENTARY] Where Are the Key Affected Populations at the International AIDS Conference?

Posted on by

By Sara L.M. Davis 

 
Background 
This spring, when the International AIDS Society announced the program for AIDS 2012, the big HIV/AIDS conference that recently concluded in Washington D.C., the MSM Global Fund expressed concern that “only a fraction of high-quality abstracts” from men who have sex with men (MSM) had been accepted. Other activists and networks representing Key Affected Populations (KAPs) concurred in emails sent to the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC) list that they too felt they were being excluded from the program.

(more…)

[REPORT] HIV Real-Name Testing: Is China Ready? (2012)

Posted on by

By Meg Davis and Shen Tingting

About 4 months ago, Guangxi and Hunan provinces announced plans to require real-name testing for HIV, and the Ministry of Health expressed support stating it should be a national policy. Immediately there was a huge outcry from the China Association of People Living with HIV/AIDS, the China Gay Male Health Forum, and others.
A joint report from Asia Catalyst and Korekata AIDS Law Center calls on China to protect patient confidentiality, provide counseling, and end compulsory testing in order to encourage more people to get tested for HIV. Without these basic rights, Chinese government programs that aim to expand HIV testing will not succeed.

The following briefly outlines our joint report and conclusions, but first we want to tell you about a community-run HIV testing program right here in Beijing, which has been dealing with these issues on the ground.

(more…)

[EVENT] Come See Asia Catalyst at AIDS 2012

Posted on by

Please join Asia Catalyst in a series of workshops, roundtables, and presentations on HIV/AIDS and human rights in Asia. Look for us at our Global Village, or online at asiacatalyst.org, @saralmdavis, and https://www.facebook.com/asiacatalyst 

Below is the complete list of all our events and the presentations by the China delegation with time, date, location. See you there!
 
Sunday, July 22: 
 
Know It, Prove It, Change It Workshop 
Through a hands-on approach, participants will gain a basic understanding of the international human rights framework and how it applies to HIV, core skills in human rights research and documentation, and the basics of human rights advocacy planning. Our training curriculum handbooks will be provided. The workshop will be led by Karyn Kaplan (Thai AIDS Treatment Action Group), Sara L.M. Davis (Asia Catalyst) and Shen Tingting (Korekata AIDS Law Center). Chinese language translation available. 
Time: Workshop: 2:00-6:00pm; Buffet dinner: 6:00-8:00pm 
Pre-registration required: Open to all staff of AIDS NGOs, whether or not you are registered for the conference. Please contact Shalena Krumm (skrumm@asiacatalyst.org) to register.

(more…)

[COMMENTARY] On the Measures on the Administration of Internet Information Services／关于《互联网信息服务管理办法（修订草案征求意见稿）》的意见

Posted on by

To:The National Internet Information Office,Ministry
of Industry and Information Technology 
国家互联网信息办公室、工业和信息化部：

In response to the Notice of Soliciting Public Comment on the Measures on the Administration of Internet Information Services (Draft for Public Comment)
issued by the two departments on June 7, 2012, I set out below my comment.

根据二〇一二年六月七日两部门发布的”关于《互联网信息服务管理办法（修订草案征求意见稿）》公开征求意见的通知”（以下简称”征求意见的通知”），兹提出如下意见。

Section 1 of Article 15 of the Measures on the Administration of Internet Information Services (Draft for Public Comment) (hereinafter referred to as “the Draft”) stipulates that any Internet information service provider which provides services of Internet users disseminating information to the public should require any of the Internet users to register real identity information. 

随同征求意见的通知公布的《互联网信息服务管理办法（修订草案征求意见稿）》（以下简称”征求意见稿”）第十五条第一款规定，”提供由互联网用户向公众发布信息服务的互联网信息服务提供者，应当要求用户用真实身份信息注册。”

对此，我基于如下所述理由提出删除该款规定的意见。

(more…)

[NEWS] Cross Post From China Geeks on Blood Disaster

Posted on by

The following is a cross post from the great people at China Geeks. The site offers translation and analysis of modern China.

By Meg Davis

China’s annual “two sessions” wrapped up this week, and Chinese lawmakers finally considered proposals to establish a national compensation fund for thousands of victims of the world’s largest HIV blood disaster.

Back in 2002, Elisabeth Rosenthal wrote in the New York Timesthat in Henan, “poverty begat AIDS, but AIDS has begotten previously unimaginable poverty.” For thousands who received tainted blood transfusions while local authorities covered up the epidemic, the compensation fund would be a life-changer.

(more…)