WHO Technical Consultation Report, in collaboration with the European AIDS Treatment Group and AIDS Action Europe on the Criminalization of HIV and other Sexually Transmitted Infections

This is a report of the October 2006 meeting the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe convened. It was the first in a series of technical consultations on the criminalization of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) transmission and exposure. The consultation brought together representatives of organizations of people living with HIV/AIDS, non-governmental technical experts from European Member States, WHO and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). They identified urgent needs for further collaborative action, including a WHO or United Nations position statement, by sharing experiences from select European countries. The key issues, challenges, policies and practices related to the criminalization of HIV and other STIs in Europe addressed were: the application of criminal law to situations involving unprotected sexual relations; the relationship between criminal law and the assumptions and principles underlying HIV/AIDS policy specifically and public health policy in general; the potential impact of the application of criminal law on the legal and social position of people living with HIV and on AIDS policy; policy action that is either desirable or necessary. (33-page report)