This myriad of laws, across multiple legal systems, has one thing in common: by punishing those who have HIV, or the practices that may leave them vulnerable to infection, such laws simply serve to drive people further from disclosure, testing and treatment—fostering, not fighting, the global epidemic. It is time to say, “No more.” Just as we need new science to help fight the viral epidemic, we need new thinking to combat an epidemic of bad laws that is undermining the precious gains made in HIV awareness, prevention and treatment over the past thirty years.
Dr. Shereen El Feki hopes that legal environment will improve following Global Commission report
News curated from other sources

New Zealand: Undetectable yet prosecutable, study highlights the need for law reform
Momentum for change on HIV criminalisation
February 20, 2026

Senegal: New bill further criminalises LGBT people as well as advocacy and funding with major implications for civil society
Government tightens repressive measures against ‘unnatural acts’: Advocacy now punishable by imprisonment
February 19, 2026

New Zealand: Government backs U=U, opening door to reform of HIV non-disclosure laws
Burnett Foundation Aotearoa welcomes the Government’s decision on U=U
February 16, 2026

Senegal: Following recent arrests, the National AIDS council calls for an approach based on science and human rights
The CNLS warns against judicial and social excesses
February 15, 2026

US: Ryan White’s mother calls for HIV law reform in Indiana
Decades after Ryan White, Indiana still criminalizes HIV
February 11, 2026
News by the HIV Justice Network

2025 in review: more reported cases, uneven reform
January 7, 2026



