Law and Health Initiative Digest

The Law and Health Initiative Digest is a monthly round-up of advocacy and grant-making activities supported by the Law and Health Initiative (LAHI) of the Open Society Institute and Soros foundations.  Each issue contains brief highlights of LAHI activities under each of our five priority areas.

In This Issue

• Health and Legal Services
• Human Rights in Patient Care
• HIV/AIDS and Human Rights
• Capacity Development
• Legal Strategies in Health Monitoring

Health and Legal Services

Ukraine: Networking on Harm Reduction Legal Services
On October 2-3, the International Renaissance Foundation (IRF) convened a meeting of five grantees integrating legal services into harm reduction programs such as needle exchange and substitution treatment.  The meeting aimed to identify the grantees' technical assistance needs, which include things like learning how to take patient rights cases, strategic litigation, legal research, working with the media, training judges, and documenting best practices.  A similar meeting of LAHI grantees took place in Russia in September.  Contact Masha Savchuk at m.savchuk@irf.kiev.ua.

Georgia: Roundtable of Advocates for the Marginilized
On October 3, Open Society Georgia Foundation (OSGF)-LAHI Coordinator Nina Kiknadze organized a roundtable meeting of organizations in Georgia providing legal and health services to marginalized groups.  Participants included the Georgia Public Defenders Office, the palliative care association "Humanist Union," the HIV/AIDS Patients Support Foundation, the Global Initiative on Psychiatry, and the Center for the Protection of Constitutional Rights.  OSGF is encouraging the formation of a law-health network to facilitate cooperation and sharing of information among NGOs advocating for the marginalized.  Contact Nina at nkiknadze@osgf.ge.  

South Africa: Law Students Conduct Workshops in Hospices
On September 28, University of Cape Town law students presented a workshop on wills to hospice social workers working with palliative care patients.  Subsequent to the workshop, students helped social workers with cases dealing with the appointment of a will's executor and power of attorney.  The students' next workshop will focus on the legal consequences of civil and customary marriages, same-sex partnerships, and cohabiting unions.  Contact Nicola Gunnclark at nicola@hpca.co.za.

Human Rights in Patient Care

Kyrgyzstan: Documenting Abuse in the Health System
Soros Foundation Kyrgyzstan (SFKg) and LAHI welcome Nurgul Djamankulova as editor of a forthcoming compilation of reports documenting severe human rights abuses against marginalized groups in the Kyrgyz health system.  The reports are being written by four grantees working with drug users, sex workers, and people with mental and physical disabilities.  LAHI consultant Acacia Shields, the former Central Asia researcher for Human Rights Watch, has been working with Nurgul and the grantees to prepare the reports for a launch in mid-2008.  Contact Aisuluu Bolotbaeva at aiso@soros.kg.

Ukraine: First Meeting of Practicioner Guide Working Group
On September 28, the Ukrainian working group for the Practitioner Guide in Law and Health held their first meeting.  This will be practical manual for lawyers on how to take patients' rights cases, using both litigation and alternative mechanisms such as ombudspersons and medical licensing bodies.  During the meeting, the Ukraine working group decided on an outline for the national chapters covering patient and provider rights and responsibilities and procedural mechanisms for vindicating these rights.  Contact Masha Savchuk at m.savchuk@irf.kiev.ua.

HIV/AIDS and Human Rights

Human Rights and HIV/AIDS: Now More Than Ever
LAHI launched the second edition of its ten-point declaration, Human Rights and HIV/AIDS: Now More Than Ever-10 Reasons Why Human Rights Should Occupy the Center of the Global Struggle Against HIV and AIDS.  The revised edition is endorsed by 24 leading HIV/AIDS and human rights organizations and networks throughout the world, and is being translated into Chinese, French, Russian, and Spanish.  Many of the endorsing organizations are planning local launches of the Declaration leading up to World AIDS Day on December 1, 2007.  Contact Ralf Jürgens at rjurgens@sympatico.ca. 

Africa: Debating Criminal Law and HIV/AIDS
On October 24, Open Society Initiative for East Africa (OSIEA)-LAHI Coordinator Anne Gathumbi convened a meeting of human rights and HIV activists to debate the issue of using criminal law to penalize transmission of HIV.  The meeting sought a consensus between women's rights activists seeking justice for HIV transmission through rape, HIV activists concerned that HIV-specific criminal laws could further stigmatize people living with HIV, and other stakeholders.  A similar meeting was convened by OSISA-LAHI and its grantee the AIDS and Rights Alliance of Southern Africa in June.  On October 30, Anne traveled to Geneva to represent LAHI at a UNAIDS consultation on criminal law and HIV.  Anne, Jonathan Cohen, and OSISA-LAHI Coordinator Delme Cupido submitted comments to UNAIDS in early October in response to UNAIDS' draft Policy Brief on Criminal Law and HIV Transmission.  Contact Anne at agathumbi@osiea.org and Delme at DelmeC@osisa.org.

Southern Africa: Media Training for HIV and Rights Groups
On October 1-3, OSI's health media program in collaboration with OSISA held a media training for HIV/AIDS and human rights grantees in Southern Africa.  Organizations had an opportunity to meet with leading journalists in the region covering HIV/AIDS issues and to develop story ideas and receive feedback.  Contact Delme Cupido at DelmeC@osisa.org.

Capacity Development

Kazakhstan: Human Rights School
On September 26-October 4, Soros Foundation Kazkhstan held a human rights school for organizations working with vulnerable groups.  The school examined international human rights norms and procedures, as well as protections under the Kazakhstan Constitution.  The school further included sessions on the right to health, patient rights, and HIV/AIDS vulnerability of criminalized populations.  Participants also had an opportunity to develop and present ideas for advocacy projects.  Contact Assel Janayeva at ajanayeva@soros.kz.

Thailand: Human Rights Training for Sex Workers
On September 26-28, OSI's Sexual Health and Human Rights Project in collaboration with LAHI held a human rights training for sex worker organizations in Thailand.  The training aimed to strengthen sex workers' basic knowledge of human rights principles, legal tools, and advocacy strategies.  Key issues identified by the sex workers included routine abuse by police and health care workers.  SHARP and LAHI are currently sponsoring a competition to support follow-up human rights advocacy by participants.  Contact Susana Fried at susana.fried@gmail.com.

Legal Strategies in Health Monitoring

LAHI, HBMAP Develop Strategy on Budget Analysis of HIV and Human Righst Responses
Following an amazing session on health budget monitoring at LAHI's Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) meeting in September, Jonathan and Tamar have been working with OSI's Health Budget Monitoring and Advocacy Project (HBMAP) to develop their strategy on using budget monitoring as a tool to increase government spending on legal and human rights responses to HIV and AIDS.  LAHI consultants, coordinators, and advisors will soon be asked for input into the strategy.  More information about LAHI's work in this area will be circulated with the complete report of the TAC meeting later this year.  Contact Ellen Liu at eliu@sorosny.org.