Headlines:
| HIV/AIDS dominate Commonwealth meeting |
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| Wednesday, 25 November 2009 | |
 Health issues were a major talking point at Wednesday's
session of the Commonwealth Heads of government meeting in Trinidad and Tobago.Discussions about HIV and Aids dominated the people's forum at the summit. The Commonwealth Aids Action Group which has been pushing for governments of the former British Empire to reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS says a proposed law proceeding through Uganda's parliament to impose life imprisonment on homosexuals and the refusal of Caribbean governments to embrace gay-friendly legislation are of deep concern. "This is crunch time, therefore, for the Commonwealth. For the moment, if the Commonwealth does not address this issue, the Uganda law and the accelerating homophobic legislation in the Caribbean then the lofty principles of the Commonwealth will lie in tatters," said Basil Williams of the HIV/AIDS Alliance. He says governments of the region ought to pay attention to what is happening in Uganda and push for change in a bid to protect human rights and to make gains in the fight against the disease which has a prevalence rate that is second only to sub-Saharan Africa. |