HIV and laws and policies in Europe : monitoring implementation of the Dublin Declaration on partnership to fight HIV/AIDS in Europe and Central Asia

- More than one in three countries in Europe and Central Asia report that unfavourable laws and policies are a barrier to provision of HIV prevention services for people who inject drugs and sex workers. - In two out of five countries, such laws and policies reportedly limit the provision of HIV prevention services, including harm reduction intervention, in prisons. - In half of the countries, laws and policies are reported to limit access to HIV treatment for undocumented migrants. - Greater effort is needed to address legal and policy barriers to the provision and uptake of HIV services for key populations. This evidence brief summarises information reported to ECDC by government representatives in 48 countries as part of the Dublin Declaration monitoring in 2016. It reviews the extent to which specific laws and policies may limit access to or uptake of HIV prevention, testing and treatment services for key populations - men who have sex with men, people who inject drugs, sex workers, migrants and prisoners - and highlights priority options for action. It is important to note that the Dublin monitoring process did not ask respondents to provide detailed information about examples of laws and policies or evidence to support their responses and, hence, this brief only provides a broad overview of the situation rather than a systematic assessment of the legal and policy environment.