OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE – DAY 3 TUESDAY 23 JULY 2014

Sir Richard Branson, Global Drug Commissioner, joins the debate

Tuesday July 22, 2014, Melbourne, Australia - Delegates to AIDS 2014, the 20th International AIDS Conference, were told today that decriminalisation of illicit intravenous drug use is a key measure for ending HIV transmission around the world.

One of the key sessions discussed the impact of drug policies on people who inject drugs, the spread of HIV and the co-morbidities of tuberculosis and hepatitis. During this session Global Drug Commissioner, Sir Richard Branson, who joined by video link, said the global war on drugs had failed both in terms of drug and public health outcomes, particularly in relation to HIV and hepatitis C, and that the time has come to replace the criminalisation and punishment of drug users with treatment and health care.

"Drug policy reform should not be seen in isolati on " Sir Richard Branson said. "It has the potential to affect change in other areas such as the world's chronically overcrowded penal system or of reducing the negative impact of policing on some communities.

"Globally, we're using too much money and far too many precious resources on incarceration when we should be spending this money on education, vocational training, and in the case of drug users, on treatment, proper medical care and re-entry."

Today's conference activities (Tuesday 22 July) began with plenary presentations about
barriers to effective HIV prevention practice. Issues discussed included strengthening health systems (Olive Shisana of South Africa), overcoming gender inequality (Jennifer
Gatsi-Mallet of Namibia), and improving financial investments in HIV responses (Mark Dybul, MD of The Global Fund).

More: Click Here