National Consultation on Punitive Laws Hindering AIDS Response in Bangladesh

The objectives of the workshop were to identify the laws hindering the AIDS response and build consensus on reforms needed to create an enabling legal environment for access to HIV services and to chalk out a time bound action plan identifying priorities for the amendment of punitive and discriminatory legal environment that are impeding AIDS responses.

The consultation was attended by 82 participants. The inaugural session, which was attended by eminent personalities, expressed the need for the timely intervention, while the overview of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Bangladesh painted a vivid picture to the participants in understanding the gravity of the AIDS epidemic and limitations of the current response.