HIV Submission to OHCHR
HRI, IDPC, CDPE and Instituto Ria welcome the opportunity to contribute on “actions taken and to be intensified or initiated to meet the innovative targets on societal enablers ahead of the High Commissioner’s report on human rights in the context of HIV/AIDS to be presented at the Human Rights Council in its 50th session.
This submission focuses on drug control policies and people who use drugs. In 2018, around 269 million people used drugs and 11 million injected drugs,1 of whom 1.4 million living with HIV.2 The risk of acquiring HIV for people who inject drugs is 35 times higher than for people who do not.3 While incidence of HIV infection globally declined by 23% between 2010 and 2019, HIV infections among people who inject drugs increased in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Asia, Middle East and North Africa.4 In 2019, only 62% of people who inject drugs were aware of their HIV status;5 well below the 95-95-95 target.