The Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic received David Borrow the Head of the United Kingdom All-Party Parliamentary Group on HIV/AIDS. The meeting was attended by Karlo Boras, executive director of the Youth of JAZAS.

The guests briefed the National Assembly Speaker on the project “Improvement of the legal position of HIV positive people” implemented in Serbia by the Youth of JAZAS from 2008 to 2010, and aimed at, among other things, empowering people who live with HIV and their organisations to stand for their interests, the creation of an expert task group for the improvement of regulations regarding HIV, as well as parliamentary cooperation among European countries on the issue.

Borrow stressed that the group on HIV/AIDS has been active in the British Parliament for 20 years and offered Assembly Speaker Djukic-Dejanovic full cooperation in changing the society’s attitude towards persons infected with HIV.

The National Assembly Speaker expressed hope that such an initiative would help change the personal attitude of both the deputies and the society as a whole towards HIV positive persons. Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic stressed that, as a National Assembly Speaker and a medical doctor, she would lend full support to the informal Parliamentary Group on HIV/AIDS within the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, comprising deputies from various political parties. The adopted Anti-Discrimination Law is the first step towards changing the attitude, as in article 27 it defines and prohibits discrimination against a person or group of persons due to their medical condition, or their families, Djukic-Dejanovic stressed.

At the end of the meeting, the officials agreed in their estimate that changing the society’s attitude towards citizens living with HIV is of the greatest interest, and that the politicians are obliged to influence national dialogue and legislation directly or indirectly related to HIV/AIDS.