Countries that criminalise gay sex are impeding fight against Aids, UN warns
Anti-homosexuality laws stop people from accessing lifesaving health services and seriously impede progress on eliminating HIV, a senior UN official has said.
Sixty-seven countries have laws that criminalise gay sex, and nearly half are in Africa, the continent most affected by HIV. In those countries, prevalence rates are about five times higher among gay men than in countries where same-sex relations are not criminalised, according to figures from UNAids.
“When LGBTQ+ people and other marginalised communities are stigmatised and criminalised, their access to lifesaving health services is obstructed, and the HIV response is undermined,” said Winnie Byanyima, the executive director of UNAids.
Earlier this year, Uganda passed one of the world’s harshest anti-LGBTQ+ laws, making gay sex punishable by life in prison, and “aggravated homosexuality” – which includes transmitting HIV – punishable by death. It also criminalises any person who fails to report same-sex acts to the police.
The law has already generated a surge in human rights violations and reduced HIV prevention and treatment services for LGBTQ+ people.
Lois Chingandu, the director of external relations at the charity Frontline AIDS, said: “It is important that countries do more when it comes to investing in HIV prevention methods, but also show stronger leadership in countering anti-rights narratives within their countries.” Well-funded and highly organised movements are promoting anti-gender and anti-LGBTQ+ views, she added.
Ahead of World Aids Day on 1 December, the UN said a life is lost to the disease every minute. Last year, 1.3 million people were infected with HIV. About 9.2 million people living with the condition did not have access to treatment. Gay men, transgender people, sex workers and people who inject drugs are among the groups most affected.
Adolescent girls and young women in sub-Saharan Africa are at high risk of infection, with 3,100 girls and women aged 15-24 contracting HIV every week – accounting for three-quarters (77%) of new infections among young people globally.
Byanyima said girls and young women are more vulnerable because of their risk of experiencing gender-based violence, but also because of a backlash against sex education in schools.
Of the 120 countries that reported having a national plan for condom programming, only 39 endorsed condom promotion in secondary schools and only 21 allowed distribution, said the report.
“When young people are denied access to sexual education, they are made much more vulnerable to HIV,” said Byanyima. “The global anti-rights wave doesn’t just threaten democracy and personal freedom, it threatens the health of everyone.”
However, Byanyima said at the launch of the report on Wednesday that there have been successes in the fight to end HIV and Aids. Although there is no cure or vaccine for the virus, 30 million people around the world are on treatment, which can stop it progressing to Aids. New infections have dropped by 60% from their peak in 1995; deaths have fallen by 70% since 2004.
Last year, five countries – Botswana, Eswatini, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zimbabwe – achieved global 2025 targets of ensuring 95% of the people living with HIV know their status, 95% are on antiretroviral treatment, and 95% on treatment are virally suppressed.
On Thursday, the Population Council announced that a vaginal ring to help women reduce the risk of HIV infection has gained regulatory approval for use in 11 countries in Africa.
The ring is made of flexible silicone and slowly releases the antiretroviral drug dapivirine in the vagina over a month.
“Women bear the brunt of the HIV/Aids epidemic,” said Jim Sailer, the council’s interim co-president. “The virus is one of the biggest threats to the health and wellbeing of women … We cannot achieve the sustainable development goal of ending HIV by 2030 unless we curtail this epidemic in women. Women deserve multiple options to protect themselves against this lifelong disease.”