In April 2015, the Open Society Foundations convened a meeting of experts and advocates concerned about the future of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, particularly in the areas of preserving support to important programs in middle-income countries.
Main image: Representatives from Nepal’s national sex worker, drug user and GLBTIQ networks upon completing the 2nd national ITPC training. Image attributed to NUNN Nepal.
In July 2012, sex workers from all over the world gathered at the ‘Sex Worker Freedom Festival: The Alternative IAC2012 Event (SWFF) for Sex Workers and Allies’ in Kolkata, India. During the festival, a space was created for and by positive sex workers who came together and discussed the additional needs and demands of being a sex worker living with HIV.
One of the initial advocacy priorities identified by NSWP+ (a platform for positive sex workers and others committed to equal rights for sex workers living with HIV) was treatment access and joining the campaign against trade related restrictions and patents used by large pharmaceutical companies to make huge profits from essential medicines. Sex workers identified the need for accessible information on the trade frameworks that impact upon access to medicines for people living with HIV.