The International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC) is a movement of HIV+ and HIV- individuals specifically working toward equitable access to treatment and care for all HIV+ people through increased treatment literacy for individuals and organizations and through local, regional and international advocacy with all stakeholders, including governments, international and bilateral agencies, pharmaceutical and diagnostics companies, non-governmental organizations and the private sector. ITPC advocates for greater input from HIV+ people in all decisions that affect their lives.

• values and respects the diversity of HIV+ people and their advocates and recognizes each other’s different background, knowledge, skills and capabilities;
• promotes tolerance, cooperation and collaboration;
• fosters a culture of inclusion and active participation by encouraging HIV+ people and their advocates to become involved as members;
• respects the right of HIV+ people to determine their own needs and have meaningful input into decisions which affect them;
• acknowledges our shared goals and openly cooperates, collaborates and communicates our knowledge, shares our expertise and information with HIV+ people and their advocates;
• embraces a full definition of “health” which encompasses access to: treatment and health-care; food & clean water; adequate housing; employment and freedom from discrimination and stigma; harm reduction services including substitution therapy and clean syringes; reproductive health services;
• embraces and promotes the human rights of all HIV+ people, particularly the most vulnerable populations, including women and girls, drug users, men who have sex with men, prisoners, refugees, orphans and vulnerable children, migrants and displaced persons.
• respects and encourages HIV+ people to have a central role in providing HIV treatment and treatment literacy;
• cultivates a safe and supportive environment within the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition for HIV+ people;
• encourages innovation to provide solutions and achieve better health outcomes for HIV+ people;
• commits to accountability, democracy and transparency in our work and in our interactions with dealings with HIV+ people and their advocates.
• acknowledges the language barriers to full inclusion and participation in our work and is committed to addressing these obstacles by ensuring translation of all major documents and meetings.

The International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC) will endeavour to remain a loose movement without legal entrapments commonly associated with organisations or networks. This will enable the movement to adopt and evolve as the need arises. The basic structure of the movement is as follows:

An International Steering Group of fifteen (15) people shall comprise one (1) representative each from the following geographic regions/sub-regions:

Central and Western Africa (1)
Eastern Africa (1)
Northern Africa and the Middle East (1)
Southern Africa (1)

Southeast Asia (1)
South Asia (1)
East Asia and the Pacific (1)

South America (1)
Central America (1)
Caribbean (1)

USA/Canada (1)
Western Europe (1)
Australia/New Zealand/Japan (1)

Eastern Europe (1)
Commonwealth of Independent States/The Baltics (1)

This International Steering Group will be elected via email ballot. Nominations for representatives from the 15 sub-regions will be made by ITPC members from these sub-regions only. The membership of the International Steering Group should reflect the diversity of the community of HIV+ people and their advocates, particularly the voices of vulnerable populations, including women and girls, drug users, men who have sex with men, etc. Members of the Steering Group will serve one two-year term. However, a single one-year extension of the term of one representative from the regions listed above may be considered to ensure continuity of the work of the International Steering Group. Members of the International Steering Group may be re-elected to the International Steering Group only after a one-year period since their last period of service has expired. Exceptions to these policies require unanimous vote of a Regional Advisory Committee and a majority vote of the International Steering Group. Members of the International Steering Group can be removed by a majority vote of the International Steering Group or can be replaced mid-term by a majority vote of the Regional Advisory Committee for their region.

The primary responsibilities of the International Steering Group shall be to offer strategic guidance to the movement and vet critical operational issues. Minutes of all International Steering Group meetings will be posted on a website in English, French, Spanish and Russian.

Five (5) Regional Advisory Committees will be established and elected by a direct vote of members from the five (5) regions listed below (see 1.3). The initial Regional Advisory Committees will consist of 5-7 members. The term of service and number of members of the Regional Advisory Committees will be decided by ITPC members from these regions. Membership in the Regional Advisory Committees must be diverse and include representation from both large and small countries in each region.

ITPC members of each of fifteen (15) sub-regions elect one representative to the ITPC Steering Group of 15 persons via email ballot. (See 1.1.)
ITPC members of each of five (5) ITPC regions establish and elect respective Regional Advisory Committees. (See 1.2.)

Southern Africa
Central and Western Africa
Eastern Africa
Northern Africa and the Middle East

South Asia
Southeast Asia
East Asia and the Pacific

South America
Central America
Caribbean

Eastern Europe
Commonwealth of Independent States/the Baltics

Western Europe Canada and USA Australia/Japan/New Zealand

Sub-Region: Southern Africa Angola - Botswana - Lesotho - Madagascar - Malawi - Mozambique - Namibia - South Africa - Swaziland - Zambia - Zimbabwe

Benin - Burkina Faso - Cape Verde - Cameroon - Central African Republic - Chad - Congo, Democratic Republic of the - Congo, Republic of - Equatorial Guinea - Gabon - Gambia - Ghana - Guinea - Guinea Bissau - Ivory Coast (Cote D’Ivoire) - Liberia - Mali –Niger - Nigeria - Sao Tome and Principe - Senegal - Sierra Leone - Togo

Burundi - Comoros - Djibouti - Eritrea - Ethiopia - Kenya - Mauritius - Reunion - Rwanda - Seychelles - Somalia - Tanzania - Uganda

Algeria - Bahrain - Egypt - Iran - Iraq - Israel - Jordan - Kuwait - Lebanon - Libya – Mauritania - Morocco - Oman – Palestine - Qatar - Saudi Arabia - Sudan - Syria - Tunisia - Turkey - Western Sahara - United Arab Emirates - Yemen

Afghanistan - Bangladesh - Bhutan - India - Maldives - Myanmar - Nepal - Pakistan - Sri Lanka

Brunei - Cambodia - Indonesia - Laos - Macau - Malaysia - Maldives - Myanmar - Nepal - Philippines - Singapore - Thailand - Vietnam

American Samoa - China - Christmas Island - Cocos (Keeling) Islands - Cook Islands - East Timor - Fiji - Guam (USA) - Hong Kong - Kiribati - Marshall Islands - Micronesia - Mongolia - Nauru - New Caledonia (French) - Niue - Norfolk Island - North Korea - Northern Mariana Islands - Palau - Papua New Guinea - Pitcairn Island - Polynesia (French) - Samoa - Solomon Islands - South Korea - Taiwan - Tokelau - Tonga - Tuvalu - Vanuatu - Wallis and Futuna Islands

Costa Rica - El Salvador - Guatemala - Honduras - Mexico - Nicaragua - Panama

Argentina - Bolivia - Brazil - Chile - Colombia - Ecuador - French Guiana - Paraguay - Peru - Uruguay - Venezuela

Anguilla - Antigua and Barbuda - Aruba - Bahamas - Barbados - Belize - Bermuda - Cayman Islands - Cuba - Dominica - Dominican Republic - Grenada - Guadeloupe (French) - Guyana - Haiti - Jamaica - Martinique (French) - Montserrat - Netherlands Antilles - Saint Kitts & Nevis - Saint Lucia - Saint Vincent & Grenadines - Suriname - Trinidad and Tobago - Turks and Caicos Islands - Virgin Islands

Albania - Bosnia-Herzegovina - Bulgaria - Croatia - Czech Republic - Hungary - Macedonia - Poland - Romania - Serbia and Montenegro - Slovakia - Slovenia

Armenia - Azerbaijan - Belarus - Estonia - Georgia - Latvia - Lithuania - Moldova - Russia - Ukraine - Kazakhstan - Kyrgyzstan - Turkmenistan - Uzbekistan - Tajikistan

Andorra - Austria - Belgium - Cyprus - Denmark - Finland - France - Germany - Gibraltar - Greece - Greenland - Iceland - Ireland - Italy - Liechtenstein - Luxembourg - Malta - Monaco - Netherlands - Norway - Portugal - San Marino - Spain - Sweden - Switzerland - United Kingdom

The primary responsibility of the Regional Advisory Committees is to foster treatment literacy and advocacy efforts in their respective regions, while also identifying issues to be addressed in the international setting. The Regional Advisory Committees will also work to ensure the involvement of new HIV+ people, advocates and organizations in regional activities and in the work of ITPC as a whole and to promote leadership development, mentoring and skills building between members of different skill levels and experience in treatment literacy and advocacy. Minutes of all Regional Advisory Committee meetings will be posted on a website in English, French, Spanish and Russian.

• ITPC shall comprise of individuals that are not representatives of pharmaceutical or diagnostic companies or their interests thereby.

• Interested individuals may join the ITPC through their respective Regional Advisory Committees or in cases where Regional Advisory Committees have not been established, they will consult the International Steering Group.

• Membership will be approved by the appropriate Regional Advisory Committees.

• Membership in ITPC is limited to individuals. However, if a member wishes to be affiliated as a member of an organization, his or her organization can be recognized as an ITPC-affiliated organization.

• Criteria, duties, roles and responsibilities of ITPC membership as well as a common membership application form will be established and created by the International Steering Group with input from the Regional Advisory Committees.

• The International Steering Group will maintain the full list of ITPC members collecting updates on current and new memberships from the Regional Advisory Committees quarterly.

• Members will be expected to participate and contribute to the best of their ability.

• While members are free to act under the name of movement, they may only act in capacities that enhance access to treatment but may not act in formal capacities such as fundraising without the explicit and written permission from the International Steering Group.

• ITPC shall be represented by a wide variety of individual(s) most suitable for given fora based on diversity, specific expertise, experience and the need to mentor new leaders for the movement.

• The International Steering Group shall manage the selection process in coordination with Regional Advisory Committees and the Thematic Working Groups ensuring that it is transparent, representative, and prompt.

• ITPC shall have zero tolerance for corruption. Corruption defined as “the use of office for personal gain or subversion of the movement’s vision of a world where all have access to treatment.”

• Those accused of corruption shall have access to all relevant allegations and charges and the chance to respond to them in writing. Any member guilty of corruption after thorough and conclusive investigation conducted by the International Steering Group or its designee shall be immediately expelled from the movement and may not return.

ITPC’s activities shall be supported and enhanced by Thematic Working Groups that may evolve as need arises. Some Thematic Working Groups will be time-limited or project-specific. New Thematic Working Groups, or subcommittees of existing Thematic Working Groups, may be established by the International Steering Committee based on the recommendation of at least ITPC two members. The initial Thematic Working Groups are:
Treatment Literacy
Trade and Health
Women and Girls
Drug Users
TB/HIV
Men who have Sex with Men
Other Vulnerable Groups (i.e. sex workers, youth, prisoners, refugees and displaced persons)
International Institutions and Financing Mechanisms
Media and Communications
Governance, Health and Human Rights

• These Thematic Groups will help the International Steering Committee, the Regional Advisory Committees and the movement as a whole, translate strategy into practical actionable items by generating ideas, materials and other information

• These thematic groups will have two contact persons responsible for overall coordination of activities.

• They are accountable to ITPC but report to and are supported on a monthly basis by the International Steering Group and an appointed voluntary coordinator.

• The Groups shall have no less than 6 members (at least one person per region) or shall be considered defunct.

Non-English speaking HIV+ people and their advocates are often kept from participation in the movement since translation into other languages is usually unavailable in most settings. ITPC will translate all major documents into English, French, Spanish and Russian and its biannual Summit and other major meetings will be translated into these languages as well.

The ITPC budget shall be drafted annually by the International Steering Group (or a designated subcommittee thereof) and submitted by the International Steering Group to the ITPC membership via email for debate, discussion, amendment, and approval.

Budgets for meetings, fora and other projects shall where possible be included in the annual ITPC budget approved by the membership; however when an ad hoc project and/or meeting comes up during a period between the approval of annual budgets, the International Steering Group may at written request of either a Regional Advisory Committee or Thematic Working Group, seek, secure, and disburse funds for a specific activity, project, meeting or forum. Information about such events and their budgets shall be made available to all members.

The ITPC budget is to be administered by the International Steering Group or its designee (e.g. an administrator, fiscal agent, or secretariat).

All revenues and expenditures of ITPC funds shall be publicly available to ITPC members on a website. In addition, the ITPC shall publish annually an external, professionally audited statement of its financial transactions on its website and make it available in printed form for any member so requesting.