Life of Guangzhou - Human Rights, HIV/AIDS Experts to Meet in Accra

Human Rights and HIV/AIDS experts from Africa, Europe and the United States of America are to meet in Accra, the capital of Ghana, from Oct. 18 to Oct. 20, 2006 to discuss the global challenges of the pandemic, reported the Ghana News Agency Friday.

The conference on the theme: "Working actively and in Partnership to Combat HIV/AIDS - The Human Rights Perspective" would focus on the human rights abuses of People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) and propose mechanisms to encourage good practices of handling the pandemic, said the report.

The experts would include international and local academics, government representatives, researchers and civil society activists, especially in the health and human rights sectors.

The workshop would examine the role that human rights have played and could play in advancing the fight against the epidemic with the belief that the campaign against HIV/AIDS must address the human rights of infected people.

It would also share findings and experiences of discrimination and stigmatization, to facilitate regional dialogue on human rights and HIV/AIDS and to propose recommendations to the public, governments and policy makers on legislation of human rights issues and the creation of more effective support system for PLWHA.