Human rights and the AIDS crisis: the debate over resources

In his plenary presentation of 11 July 2000 at the XIII International AIDS Conference, Kenneth Roth, the Executive Director of Human Rights Watch, the largest US-based human rights organization, reflects on whether a human-rights perspective can help us confront the AIDS crisis. More specifically, he asks the question whether human rights can help us meet the urgent challenge of securing the vast resources we need for treatment and prevention. Mr Roth believes they can. He argues that human rights are a powerful tool for meeting basic human needs, but that their contribution to the fight against AIDS is not as simple or straightforward as many often assume. In his presentation, he explains why.