GIPA Principles

The emergence of the Greater Involvement of PLWHA (GIPA) Principles

The idea that the personal experiences of PLWHA (People living with HIV/AIDS) could and should shape the response to the epidemic found a public voice in 1983 when a small band of PLWHA gathered at a national medical conference on AIDS in Denver, Colorado, protesting their exclusion from the planning process of workshops related to AIDS. There, positive activists announced a set of principles destined to revolutionise the way the world responds to an epidemic. The “Denver Principles” set forth standards for human rights and self-empowerment in a health crisis.

The Denver Principles include:

• A refusal to be ‘victims’;
• A request for support from all people;
• A plea against stigma & discrimination;
• A call to all positive people to choose: 1 to be involved at all levels of decision making;
  2 to be included in all AIDS forums;
  3 to be responsible for their own sexual health & to inform all their partners of their HIV status.
• A demand for: 1 a full & satisfying sexual & emotional life;
  2 provision of quality medical treatment & social service;
  3 full explanations of medical procedures and risks & the right to choose or refuse treatment;
  4 privacy & confidentiality of medical records & disclosure;
  5 the right to die & live in dignity.

The acronym GIPA was publicly vocalised for the first time during the preparatory meetings of the Paris AIDS Summit in 1994. The term was used in the Declaration that was signed by representatives of 42 countries which undertook to "fully involve...People living with HIV/AIDS in the formulation and implementation of public policies…" and to "…support the greater involvement of people living with HIV/AIDS (GIPA)." The principles of GIPA were later reinforced by the UNGASS Declaration in 2001 signed by almost all members of the United Nations. They have been adopted by UNAIDS and GIPA is presently an integral, indispensable part of all major international declarations pertaining to the epidemic.

GIPA PRINCIPLES

• To support the greater involvement of people living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA) through initiatives to strengthen the capacity of and coordination of networks of PLWHA and CBOs stimulating the creation of a supportive political, legal and social environment;
• To involve PLWHA fully in decision making, formulation and implementation of public policies;
• To protect and promote the rights of individuals, in particular those living with or most vulnerable to HIV/AIDS, through legal and social environments;
• To make available necessary resources to better combat the pandemic including adequate support for PLWHA, NGOs and CBOs working with vulnerable and marginalized populations;
• To strengthen national and international mechanisms connected to human rights and ethics related to HIV/AIDS.
  
  Declaration of the Paris AIDS Summit,1 December 1994.

Source: www.youandaids.com

For mor information on the GIPA Principles check this UN document