On Tuesday, the United Nations is expected to adopt new targets for ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030, seemingly a goal most countries could easily have agreed to. In early negotiations over the agreement, called a political declaration, the United States and the European Union fought to ban policies and laws that stigmatize, or even criminalize, high-risk groups — and drastically scaled back moves to relax patent protections for H.I.V. The U.N. declaration sets priorities for the global AIDS response and guides policies at a national level. It also gives global health organizations and civil society organizations leverage to pressure governments to honor their commitments. After several days of heavy edits by delegates from some countries and deft negotiations by others, member countries are expected to accept a final version of the declaration on Tuesday morning.

Source: International New York Times June 08, 2021 09:00 UTC