GLBT Groups Gaining Consulting Status with the U.N.

Two sexual orientation and gender identity rights groups have been given consultative status by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). COC Netherlands and the State Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Transexuals and Bisexuals of Spain (FELGTB) are national organizations representing LGBT communities in the Netherlands and Spain.

“COC Netherlands is delighted about obtaining consultative status with the UN,” said Björn van Roozendaal, the group’s international advocacy officer. “It means we can join the efforts at the UN to address human rights violations against people with an alternative sexual orientation or gender identity.” “Spanish-speaking LGBT voices will be heard in UN meetings where human rights questions are debated,” said David Montero, FELGTB Spain’s officer for international issues and human rights. “We thank all who have contributed to this exciting outcome, and especially Spain’s UN mission for their support.”

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UN Urges Lift of HIV+ Travel Ban

At the opening of a two-day meeting in the General Assembly of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), U.N. secretary-general Ban Ki-moon called for an end to all discrimination against people with HIV or AIDS, including travel restrictions imposed on them by some countries.

“I call for a change in laws that uphold stigma and discrimination, including restrictions on travel for people living with HIV,” he said.

A letter signed by 345 nongovernmental organizations was sent to leaders and ambassadors of concerned countries to urge them to lift the restrictions.

According to UNAIDS, 74 countries place restrictive measures on HIV-positive citizens, including noting the disease on their passports.

Twelve nations prohibit entry to anyone carrying the AIDS virus: Armenia, Colombia, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Sudan, the United States, and Yemen.

Most of these countries claim there are public-health concerns that justify the restrictions.

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U.S. HIV Infection Rate 25% Higher Than Thought

More accurate counting methods have resulted in a revision to the estimated HIV infection rate in the United States. In the past, large segments of society were undercounted causing the number of infections to be undercounted as well, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

“The number went up to about 50,000. That doesn’t mean that the actual rate of new infections increased. It means that we are now no longer missing counting the ones that we missed early,” Fauci said. “It was always 50,000 a year.”

In the United States, with a population of about 300 million, some 1.1 million people are infected with HIV, of which 25 percent do not know it. That leaves 770,000 documented cases.

“I have seen some of the data and it is clear. The confusion is that it was increasing when in fact it is better accounting,” Fauci said. “They are counting more accurately.”

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