Law, Policy and Ethics Related Links

Disclaimer

• AIDS and Civil Liberties
• Connecticut Public Policy
• Drug Policy
• Gay & Lesbian Issues
• Harm Reduction and Needle Exchange
• HIV/AIDS Data on the Internet
• HIV and Welfare/Housing/Social Services
• HIV Reporting and Partner Notification
• Human Rights
• IRBs & Human Subjects Research Ethics
• Policing and Criminalization (or Decriminalization) of HIV Transmission
• Prisons
• Race, Gender, Violence and HIV
• Treatment and Access
• University AIDS Research Sites
• Yale University Sites

AIDS and Civil Liberties

• American Civil Liberties Union

  http://www.aclu.org/issues/aids/hmaids.html
  On issues of AIDS and civil liberties

Connecticut Public Policy

• Connecticut Delegation to the US Senate and US House of Representatives

  http://www.connectconnecticut.org/resources/legislators.htm



• Connecticut General Assembly

  http://www.cga.ct.gov



• Connecticut General Assembly, Public Health Committee

  http://www.cga.ct.gov/ph/



• How to Lobby the CT General Assembly

  http://www.ctaidshousing.org/advocacy.htm

Drug Policy

• American Civil Liberties Union

  http://www.aclu.org/DrugPolicy/DrugPolicyMain.cfm
  Drug policies, latest news, issues and publications related to American drug policies



• A Better Way Foundation

  http://www.abwf-ct.org/
  A Better Way Foundation is a Connecticut non-profit organization that is dedicated to a sensible shift in drug policy from one of incarceration to substance abuse treatment and public health.



• Connecticut Drug Policy

  http://www.cga.ct.gov/lrc/DrugPolicy/DrugPolicyRpt2.htm
  This document highlights the state wide drug policy, public health strategy mechanisms, and criminal justice strategy options.
  http://www.cga.ct.gov/lrc/drugpolicy/DrugPolicyRpt7.htm
  Web site on CT drug policy, criminal justice treatment and education programs



• Dogwood Center

  http://www.dogwoodcenter.org/
  The Dogwood Center is an independent, nonprofit research organization concerned with social justice issues related to drugs and AIDS.



• Drug Policy Alliance

  http://www.drugpolicy.org/library
  A bibliography of books and reports on drugs and drug policy and policy analysis. Discussion of focal issues like drug education, drug substitution, marijuana regulation, methadone maintenance, needle exchange, safer injecting rooms and women and drug use.



• Physician Leadership on National Drug Policy (PLNDP)

  http://www.plndp.org
  A new online partnership between Join Together Online and Physician Leadership on National Drug Policy (PLNDP) provides PLNDP Associates with an easy way to keep up with the latest news, research findings and policy developments affecting their efforts.



• Physician's Guide on How to Advocate for More Effective National and State Drug Policies

  http://www.jointogether.org/sa/files/pdf/plndpguidefinal.pdf
  This book provides steps physicians can take to advocate for more effective drug policies including ways to work with the media and with legislators. It provides sample op-eds, talking points, and other resources.



• Thomas Legislative Information on the Internet

  http://thomas.loc.gov/
  This Web site provides legislative information on the internet. Type in HIV/AIDS in the search engine to find legislative information on HIV/AIDS within the US.

Gay & Lesbian Issues

• American Civil Liberties Union

  http://www.aclu.org/LesbianGayRights/LesbianGayRightsMain.cfm
  Articles and reports on gay and lesbian issues



• AIDS Education Global Information System (AEGIS)

  http://www.aegis.com/
  Law library (publications from 1988-1999) includes publications on gay issues and HIV/AIDS



• Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN)

  http://www.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/home.html
  The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, or GLSEN, is working to ensure safe and effective schools for all students.



• International Lesbian and Gay Human Rights Commission

  http://www.iglhrc.org/

Harm Reduction and Needle Exchange

• Drug Policy Alliance (Formerly the Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation)

  http://www.drugpolicy.org/
  Drug Policy Alliance is the leading organization working to broaden the public debate on drug policy and to promote realistic alternatives to the war on drugs based on science, compassion, health and human rights. Library includes articles on wide range of harm reduction topics, including needle exchange.



• Drug Text

  http://www.drugtext.org
  The Internet's Center for substance abuse related risk reduction.



• Harm Reduction Coalition

  http://www.harmreduction.org/
  The Harm Reduction Coalition (HRC) is committed to reducing drug-related harm among individuals and communities by initiating and promoting local, regional, and national harm reduction education, interventions, and community organizing.



• International Harm Reduction Association

  http://www.ihra.net/



• International Harm Reduction Development

  http://www.soros.org/harm-reduction/frame_pub.htm
  Information, resources, publications and newsletters on harm reduction and links to many useful and related Web sites.



• Kaiser Family Foundation

  http://www.statehealthfacts.kff.org/
  Web site includes state profiles and comparisons on cumulative AIDS cases, persons living with AIDS, AIDS deaths, Ryan White funding, and state AIDS policies, such as syringe access and HIV testing.



• Research Brief: Syringe Access

  http://www.lindesmith.org/docUploads/syringe_access_brief.pdf
  Research briefs on drug prohibition and the US prison system.

HIV/AIDS Data on the Internet

• Canadian HIV/AIDS Policy and Law Review

  http://www.aidslaw.ca/new.htm
  The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network engages in education, legal and ethical analysis, and policy development. This website compiles articles and analyse on issues of ethics, human rights, harm reduction, prison populations and immigrants.



• Center for Health Services Research and Policy (through George Washington University)

  http://www.gwu.edu/~chsrp/
  The Center conducts extensive research and program evaluation of laws, policies, and services affecting low-income, medically underserved, and vulnerable populations and the health care providers and institutions that serve them. The Center also analyzes the impact of welfare reform on the health system generally and the Medicaid program. Additionally, the Center conducts analyses of health laws and policies under consideration or after implementation, including recent court decisions, to determine their impact on health care organization, access, financing and quality.



• Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA)

  http://hab.hrsa.gov/reports/data2a.htm
  This data is provided by the Ryan White CARE Act grantees on the services that they and their contractors provided in the previous year. Their summary data describe the primary health care and enabling services provided through the CARE Act, the demographic characteristics of persons receiving these services, and the types of providers.



• HIV Insite

  http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/InSite.jsp?page=Policy
  Policy Analysis, databases, publications on issues like treatment and access, ethics and human rights, political economy, sexual violence, gender, discrimination, surveillance and reporting, legal dimensions associated with HIV/AIDS, in the national(US) and global context.



• JAMA & Archives

  http://pubs.ama-assn.org/cgi/collection/hiv_aids
  Listing of recent articles about HIV/AIDS that have appeared in the Journal of American Medical Association and other medical journals.



• Kaiser Family Foundation

  http://www.statehealthfacts.kff.org/
  Web site includes state profiles and comparisons on cumulative AIDS cases, persons living with AIDS, AIDS deaths, Ryan White funding, and state AIDS policies, such as syringe access and HIV testing.



• US Department of Health and Human Services, HIV/AIDS Bureau

  http://hab.hrsa.gov/publications/journals.htm

HIV and Welfare/Housing/Social Services

• AIDS Housing of Washington

  http://www.aidshousing.org/
  The mission of AIDS Housing of Washington (AHW) is to increase and sustain the quality and quantity of HIV/AIDS housing resources throughout the United States. AHW's scope of work includes AIDS housing development in the Seattle/King County area, as well as a range of planning, organizing, and technical assistance activities both locally and nationally.



• American Civil Liberties Union

  http://www.aclu.org/issues/aids/hmaids.html



• HIV and Homeless Shelters: Policy and Practice

  http://www.aclu.org/issues/gay/hiv_homeless.htm

HIV Reporting and Partner Notification

• AIDS Law Project

  http://www.alp.org.za
  Publications on confidentiality, work place testing, etc.



• Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation

  http://www.statehealthfacts.kff.org/
  State Health Facts Online: Contains State level comparative data (50 state comparisons) on HIV case reporting.



• HIV Insite

  http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/InSite.jsp?page=Policy
  Policy analysis, databases, publications on issues like treatment and access, ethics and human rights, political economy, sexual violence, gender, discrimination, surveillance and reporting, legal dimensions associated with HIV/AIDS, in the national(US) and global context.



• Managing Desire: HIV Prevention Strategies for the 21st Century

  http://www.managingdesire.org/hivsurv/
  Web site with journal articles, issue briefs and research papers on issues of anonymous testing, HIV surveillance and reporting, policy implications of HIV/AIDS stigma.

Human Rights

• AIDS Law Project, South Africa

  http://www.alp.org.za
  The AIDS Law Project produces a range of information pamphlets to educate people about the human rights and legal dimensions of the AIDS epidemic.



• The Body: An AIDS Information Resource

  http://www.thebody.com/legal.html
  Web site contains news and analytical articles on basic legal rights, disclosure, transmission, HIV related discrimination cases and ruling, other legal cases, HIV/AIDS and immigration, wills, guardians and power of attorney, assisted suicide and many legal resources.



• Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network

  http://www.aidslaw.ca/Maincontent/otherdocs/Newsletter/newsletter.htm
  This site contains hundreds of articles, info sheets, reports, discussion papers, and other documents on a wide variety of legal, ethical, and human rights issues related to HIV/AIDS.



• Drug Policy Alliance (formerly, The Lindesmith Center- Drug Policy Foundation)

  http://www.drugpolicy.org/
  Drug Policy Alliance (formerly known as The Lindesmith Center - Drug Policy Foundation) works to broaden the public debate on drug policy and to promote realistic alternatives to the war on drugs based on science, compassion, public health and human rights.



• Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Human Rights

  http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/fxbcenter/
  FXB is an academic center focusing exclusively on health and human rights and combines the academic strengths of research and teaching with a strong commitment to service and advocacy.



• HIV/AIDS and Human Rights International Guidelines

  http://www.unaids.org/publications/documents/human/law/JC520-HumanRights-E.pdf
  (UNHCHR/UNAIDS, 1998), a United Nations guide for national law and policy to protect the rights of persons affected by HIV/AIDS and to facilitate delivery of AIDS-related services and programs.



• HIV Insite

  http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/InSite.jsp?page=Policy
  Policy Analysis, databases, publications on issues like treatment and access, ethics and human rights, political economy, sexual violence, gender, discrimination, surveillance and reporting, legal dimensions associated with HIV/AIDS, in the national(US) and global context.



• Human Rights Watch

  http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/aids/
  Human Rights Watch advocates for legal and policy protections for persons affected by or at high risk of HIV/AIDS. This website contains reports and publications documenting human rights violations due to infection by HIV/AIDS globally. Reports available through this site on HIV/AIDS and human rights related to prisons, refugees, asylum seekers, migrants and internally displaced people.



• Lawyers Collective, India

  http://www.lawyerscollective.org
  Lawyers Collective HIV/AIDS Unit provides legal aid and allied services for people affected with HIV/AIDS and conducts extensive advocacy, research, and policy initiatives on HIV/AIDS and law.

IRBs & Human Subjects Ethics

Yale University has four committees that oversee research and protect subjects' rights:

• Human Investigations Committee (HIC I & HIC II) at Yale School of Medicine

  http://www.info.med.yale.edu/hic/index.html
  The Web site provides resources for the research community at the School of Medicine in preparing and submitting research protocols and consent forms in compliance with federal regulations and University policies.



• HIC Useful Links

  http://www.info.med.yale.edu/hic/links/index.html
  Excellent links to resources relating to the IRB process and ethics in research.



• Human Subjects Committee (HSC) at Yale University Faculty of Arts & Sciences (FAS)

  http://www.yale.edu/hsc/
  The Human Subjects Committee (HSC) is responsible for the oversight of studies that involve faculty, staff or students of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, School of Management, School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, School of Law, Divinity School, School of Architecture, School of Art, School of Drama, and School of Music.



• Human Subjects Research Review Committee (HSRRC) at Yale School of Nursing

  http://nursing.yale.edu/Research/Oversight/
  The Human Subjects Research Review Committee (HSRRC) is one of four federally approved institutional review boards at Yale University. Human subjects review is designed to insure protection of subjects' rights and personal privacy, and to assure that the investigators' method to obtain informed consent from subjects meets established criteria.

Other Ethics/IRB related sites include:

• Human Participant Protections Education for Research Teams

  http://cme.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/learning/humanparticipant-protections.asp
  This free, Web-based course presents information about the rights and welfare of human participants in research. The two-hour tutorial is designed for those involved in conducting research involving human participants. It satisfies the NIH human subjects training requirement for obtaining Federal Funds. You will have the option of printing a certificate of completion from your computer upon completing the course.



• NIH Guide to Bioethics Resources on the Web

  http://www.nih.gov/sigs/bioethics/IRB.html
  Excellent listing includes resources about policies and regulations, guidance for investigators, IRB resources, short courses on ethical issues in human studies, and research resources.



• NIH Certificates of Confidentiality Kiosk

  http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/InSite.jsp?page=Policy
  Certificates of Confidentiality constitute an important tool to protect the privacy of research study participants. This NIH site provides information about the Certificates and how to obtain one for your project.

Policing and Criminalization (or Decriminalization) of HIV Transmissions

• HIV Criminal Law and Policy Project

  http://www.hivcriminallaw.org/index.cfm
  The goal of this project is to identify effective legal measures to reduce HIV transmission and avoid those that are ineffective, promote abuse, or decrease cooperation with health promotion/disease prevention goals.



• HIV Insite

  http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/InSite.jsp?page=Policy
  Policy analysis, databases, publications on issues like treatment and access, ethics and human rights, political economy, sexual violence, gender, discrimination, surveillance and reporting, legal dimensions associated with HIV/AIDS, in the national(US) and global context.



• International Harm Reduction Association

  http://www.drugtext.org
  Online library of articles on harm reduction and decriminalization of HIV related drug behavior.



• Managing Desire: HIV Prevention Strategies for the 21st Century

  http://www.managingdesire.org/hivsurv/
  Web site with journal articles, issue briefs and research papers on issues of criminalization of HIV transmission.

Prisons

• American Civil Liberties Union on Prisoners Rights

  http://archive.aclu.org/issues/prisons/hmprisons.html



• Fortune Society

  http://www.fortunesociety.org/
  Staffed primarily by ex-prisoners, The Fortune Society is a not-for-profit community-based organization dedicated to educating the public about prisons, criminal justice issues, and the root causes of crime. The Fortune Society also help ex-prisoners and at-risk youth break the cycle of crime and incarceration through a broad range of services, including housing, advocacy, career development and counseling.



• HIV Insite

  http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/InSite.jsp?page=Policy
  Policy Analysis, databases, publications on issues like treatment and access, ethics and human rights, political economy, sexual violence, gender, discrimination, surveillance and reporting, legal dimensions associated with HIV/AIDS, in the national(US) and global context.



• The Urban Institute - Corrections & Prisoners

  http://www.urban.org/
  Extensive list of publications by the Urban Institute about the corrections system in the United States.

Race, Gender, Violence and HIV

• African American AIDS Policy Institute -- BlackAID Organization

  http://www.blackaids.org/



• AIDS Education Global Information System (AEGIS)

  http://www.aegis.com/
  Law library (1988-1999) publications on gender issues.



• Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE)

  http://www.genderhealth.org/
  Includes information about the Center's work based on a rights based approach. Website features analyses, research and publications on a range of reproductive and sexual health and rights issues, including informed choice, gender-sensitive STI and HIV prevention strategies, gender-based violence and health sector reforms and reproductive health services.



• HIV Insite

  http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/InSite.jsp?page=Policy
  Policy analysis, databases, publications on issues like treatment and access, ethics and human rights, political economy, sexual violence, gender, discrimination, surveillance and reporting, legal dimensions associated with HIV/AIDS, in the national(US) and global context.

Treatment and Access

• AIDS Education Global Information System (AEGIS)

  http://www.aegis.com/
  Law library (publications from 1988-1999) includes publications on treatment and access issues.



• HIV Insite

  http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/InSite.jsp?page=Policy
  Policy analysis, databases, publications on issues like treatment and access, ethics and human rights, political economy, sexual violence, gender, discrimination, surveillance and reporting, legal dimensions associated with HIV/AIDS, in the national(US) and global context.



• Yale AIDS Network

  http://www.yale.edu/aidsnetwork/
  The Yale AIDS Network is an organization of graduate students that was formed in spring 2001, after student and faculty pressure prompted Yale to essentially release its patent on the antiretroviral drug d4T in South Africa. The group continues to work on the issue of creating access to essential medicines.

University AIDS Research Sites

• Center for AIDS Intervention Research at the Medical College of Wisconsin

  http://www.cair.mcw.edu/



• Columbia-Rockefeller Center for AIDS Research

  http://cpmcnet.columbia.edu/dept/CRCFAR/



• Forum for Collaborative HIV Research at The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services

  http://www.hivforum.org/



• UCLA AIDS Institute

  http://www.uclaaidsinstitute.org/



• University of California, San Francisco

  Center for AIDS Prevention Studies (CAPS) http://www.caps.ucsf.edu/
  HIV InSite from the UCSF School of Medicine http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu
  The AIDS Policy Research Center at UCSF http://ari.ucsf.edu/
  

Yale University Sites

• Yale AIDS Network

  http://www.yale.edu/aidsnetwork/
  The Yale AIDS Network is an organization of graduate students that was formed in spring 2001, after student and faculty pressure prompted Yale to essentially release its patent on the antiretroviral drug d4T in South Africa.



• Yale AIDS Watch

  http://www.yale.edu/yaw/
  Yale AIDS Watch (YAW) is an undergraduate organization that works to fight AIDS on a local, national and global level.



• Yale Journal of Health Policy, Law, and Ethics

  http://www.yale.edu/yjhple/
  A biannual publication of the Yale Schools of Law, Medicine, Epidemiology and Public Health, and Nursing, the Journal strives to provide a forum for interdisciplinary discussion on topics in health policy, health law, and biomedical ethics.



• Yale Journal of Public Health

  http://www.yaleph.com/
  An independent, undergraduate publication founded to provide a forum for discussion and enquiry in a medium that is accessible to both specialists and non-specialists alike.



• Yale School of Public Health

  http://info.med.yale.edu/eph/