Jonathan M. Mann and Daniel J.M. Tarantola

About the author: Jonathan M. Mann is François-Xavier Bagnoud Professor of Health and Human Rights at Harvard School of Public Health. Daniel J.M. Tarantola is Director of the International AIDS Program at Harvard School of Public Health.

While the AIDS pandemic has aggressively continued its spread, the global response has not increased proportionately and has even declined in some areas. As societies build and develop a new effort to combat the epidemic, an important discovery must be incorporated: There is empirical evidence to support a connection between the risk of HIV infection and the denial of basic human rights. Groups who are marginalized and discriminated against have a greater risk of HIV infection than those...