TABLE OF CASES

MRS. GEORGINA AHAMEFULE V. IMPERIAL CENTRE AND

DR. ALEX MOLOKWU (2005) 5 NWLR (pt. 917) 51 …………..………  58

RANSOM KUTI v. ATTORNEY-GENERAL of THE FEDERATION (1985) 2NWLR (pt.6) p.211

TABLE OF STATUTES

African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR)

Article 2 …………………………………………………………………………63

Article 4…………………………………………………………………………63

Article 5…………………………………………………………………………63

Article 15 ………………………………………………………………………64

Article 16(1) ……………………………………………………………………64

Article 19 ………………………………………………………………………64

African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (Ratification

 and Enforcement) Act, Laws of the Federation (1990)……………….. …64

Bill of Rights of 1698…………………………………………………………19

Enugu State of Nigeria: HIV/AIDS Anti-Discrimination and Protection Law.

Section 1 ………………………………………………………………………51

Section 5(1) ……………………………………………………………………52

Section 5(2) ……………………………………………………………………52

Section 5(3) ……………………………………………………………………52

HIV/AIDS Anti-Discrimination Act 2014

Section 1……………………………………………………………………… 42

Section 2 ………………………………………………………………………43

Section 5………………………………………………………………………43

Section 6 ………………………………………………………………………43

Section 6 (j) …………………………………………………………………43,60

Section 21………………………………………………………………………44

Section 22………………………………………………………………………44

INTERNATIONAL CONVENANT ON CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS

Article 2 ………………………………………………………………………61

Article 6(1) ……………………………………………………………………61

Article 17(1) ………………………………………………………………… 61

Article 19(2) ………………………………………………………… ………62

Article 22 ………………………………………………………………….…62

Article 26 ……………………………………………………………………62

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION (ILO )

The Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention (No. 111) in Article 1

International Guidelines on Hiv/Aids and Human Rights

Guideline 5…………………………………………………………………… 66

Guidelines 6………………………………………………………………….. 67

Guidelines 9 …………………………………………………………………. 67

Guidelines 11…………………………………………………………………. 67

Lagos State Government of Nigeria: A Law for The Protection Of PLWHA

Section 1 …………………………………………………………………….. 53

Section 10 …………………………………………………………………… 53

Section 11(3) …………………………………………………………………53

Section 18 …………………………………………………………………… 53

National Human Rights Commission (Amendment)Act 2010.

Section 5(a)…………………………………………………………………. 46

Section 5(b),(c) ………………………………………………………………46

National Health Act 2014

Section 20(1) ……………………………………………………………… 47

Section 26 …………………………………………………………………. 47

Section 26(2) ……………………………………………………………… 47

Section 30 ………………………………………………………………… 48

National Workplace Policy on HIV/AIDS, March 2005

Section 6.1 …………………………………………………………………… 49

Section 6.7 ……………………………………………………………………49

Section 6.9 …………………………………………………………………...49

National Policy on HIV/AIDS 2009

Section 2.4 …………………………………………………………………... 51

National Policy on HIV/AIDS for the Education Sector

Section 6.2.3 ………………………………………………………………… 50

Section 6.10.4 …………………………………………………………………50

People Living with HIV/AIDS (Anti- Stigmatization and Discrimination) Law, 2013 of Benue State.

Section 34 ……………………………………………………………………. 54

Section 35(1) ………………………………………………………………… 54

Section 35(2) (e) ...............................................................................................54

Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (2005)

Article 14 (1)(d) …………………………………………………………….. 65

Article 14 (1) (e) …………………………………………………………...... 65

The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1960

Section 17 ……………………………………………………………..…… 20

Section 18………………………………………………………………..… 21

Section 19………………………………………………………………..…..21

Section 20…………………………………………………………………. 21

Section 21…………………………………………………………………..21

Section 22 …………………………………………………………………. 21

Section 23 …………………………………………………………………. 21

Section 24 …………………………………………………………………..21

Section 25 …………………………………………………………………...21

Section 26 …………………………………………………………………... 21

Section 27 ……………………………………………………………………21

Section 28 …………………………………………………………………... 21

Section 29 …………………………………………………………………....21

Section 30 …………………………………………………………………... 21

The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended)

Section 6(6)(c) …………………………………………………………….. 22

Section 33(1) ……………………………………………………………… 41

Section 34 (1) (a) ………………………………………………………….. 40

Section 37 …………………………………………………………………. 41

Section 40 …………………………………………………………………. 41

Section 41…………………………………………………………..…….... 41

Section 42 (1) …………………………………………………………...... 39

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), 1948

Article 1 …………………………………………………………………..59

Article 3 …………………………………………………………………..60

Article 7 …………………………………………………………………..60

Article 8 …………………………………………………………………..60

Article 16(1) (2) (3) ………………………………………………………60

Article 23 (1) (2) (3) ……………………………………………………...60

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ACHPR          -           African Charter on Human Rights and People’s Rights

AIDS              -           Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome

ART                -           Anti-Retroviral Therapy

ARV               -           Anti-Retroviral Virus

CD4                -           Cluster of Differentiation 4

FIDA              -           International Federation of Women Lawyers

HEAP             -           HIV/AIDS Emergency Action Plan

HIV                 -           Human Immunodeficiency Virus

HTC                -           HIV Testing and Counselling

IBID               -           At the same place

ICCPR                        -           International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

ICESCR          -           International Convention on Political and Civil Rights

ILO                 -           International Labour Organisation

LEA                -           Legal Environment Assessment

NAAC                        -           National AIDS Control Council

NACA                        -           The National Agency for the Control of AIDS

NEACA          -           National Expert Advisory Committee on AIDS

NEWPHAN    -           Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS

N.G.O             -           Non-Governmental Organizations

PHCN             -           Power Holding Company of Nigeria

PHR                -           Physician Human Rights

PLWHA          -           People Living with HIV/AIDS

UDHR                        -           Universal Declaration of Human Rights

UNDP             -           United Nations Development Programme

WHO              -           World Health Organization

ABSTRACT 

HIV/AIDS remains a threat to the very existence of man, not just in Nigeria but also to the whole world. This single pandemic has remained a mystery to mankind. The issue of human rights for the people living with this deadly virus has long been over flogged but there is still much to be done to protect the rights of PLHWA. To this end, the chapter one and two of this project deals with the general overview/background of the study, as well as the nature, history and management of HIV/AIDS. Chapter three takes a critical look into the laws that protect people living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria by accessing national laws, policies, state laws, judicial pronouncements, international laws and policies. However, no policy or law alone can combat HIV/AIDS related discrimination. As such, all stakeholders in the fight against HIV/AIDS should be involved in addressing the issue of discrimination and how to curb it. Hence Chapter four addresses the problems still facing the implementation of protection of the rights of HIV/AIDS patients in Nigeria and strategies to resolve it. This work finally ends with summary, conclusion and recommendation.

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.1  Background of the Study

To begin this work, a definition of the subject matter, which is Human Rights, is certainly not out of place. A right may be defined as a liberty protected or enforced by the law which compels a specific person(s) to do, or abstain from doing something[1]. Rights are legal, social or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement. In other words, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people, according to some legal systems, social convention or ethnic theory.

Human rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, both in national and international law. The doctrine of human rights in international practice within international law, global and regional institutions in the policies of states as well as in the activities of non-governmental organizations, has been a cornerstone of public policy around the world. The idea of human rights states: “If the public discourse of peacetime global society can be said to have a common moral language, it is that of human rights.”[2]

Despite this, the strong claims made by the doctrine of human rights continue to provoke considerable scepticism and debates about the content, nature, and justifications of human rights to this day. Indeed, the question of what is meant by a “right” is itself controversial and the subject of continued philosophical debates.[3]

The idea of human rights transcends the ordinary notion of rights as liberties guaranteed or enforced by law. Human rights are broader than that. They embrace all conceivable rights to which a person can lay a just and valid claim, not totally on the basis of law, but on the fact that the claimant is a human being. Hence our topic, “The Human Rights of HIV/AIDS Patients”(which) seeks to establish that the HIV/AIDS patients have their rights in the society not merely on the basis of law, but for the fact that they are also human beings.

This research shall be concerned with an attempt to assess the rights that accrue to HIV/AIDS patients and endeavour to find out if these rights are actually accorded to PLWHA, because aspects of their rights are being violated as a result of their health condition. Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is the terminal visible event in the sequence of occurrences, beginning with the entry of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), in the host. The most common mode of HIV transmission is sexual contact, and sexual transmission which has become the conventional explanation for the HIV epidemic in several parts of the world

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