David Patterson, LLM. MSc., has almost 20 years’ experience in responding to the legal and policy challenges of the HIV epidemic in the development context.
He holds a master’s degree in law and has post graduate qualifications in public policy and management, community health, and development program evaluation.
Since 1994, working with UNDP, UNAIDS, national and international NGOs and IDLO, Mr Patterson has published on various aspects of law, HIV, and development, including migration, rights-based approaches, governance, vaccines, and privacy.
In 2000 he co-chaired the first scientific track focusing on human rights at an international AIDS conference, in Durban, South Africa.
Since 2009, David has managed IDLO’s health law program, with a budget of $6.3m through February 2014, which has supported initiatives on HIV-related law and policy in 23 countries. In 2011 he addressed the UN General Assembly on the importance of legal services for people living with HIV.
He has a working knowledge of French, and is a member of the Programming Sub-Committee of the UNAIDS Reference Group on HIV and Human Rights.
His recent work areas explore legal frameworks for responding to noncommunicable diseases, intellectual property law and access to medicines, and litigation as a tool to advance the right to food.