AIDS is a global public health crisis of unparalleled proportions, yet too often the most vulnerable and marginalized populations are neglected and underrepresented in approaches to treating and preventing HIV/AIDS. To fill this gap, OSI’s Public Health Program works to support stigmatized and socially excluded groups like Roma and other ethnic minorities, injecting drug users, sex workers, lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender individuals, and homeless and incarcerated people.

The Public Health Program advocates for and provides grants to efforts to reform discriminatory or exclusionary policies; expand the availability of HIV treatment and prevention services like needle exchange and opiate substitution treatment for people who use drugs; increase civil society participation around issues of sexual health and rights; promote the inclusion of palliative care in HIV/AIDS funding strategies; and protect the human rights of HIV-positive people.

In 2007 OSI released a report, Civil Society Perspectives on HIV/AIDS Policy, finding that both wealthy and developing countries frequently exclude marginalized groups from HIV/AIDS policy discussions. The report, the result of two years of research in Nicaragua, Senegal, Ukraine, the United States, and Vietnam monitors governments’ progress in providing HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and care.