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B. PUSHING FOR NEW STANDARDSBeyond the use of the current redress mechanisms, PLHIV support groupscan play a role in standard-setting. Judging from their sharing of what theyconsider as violations, it must be recognized that they feel some needs,such as need for caring and need for humane treatment and respect byothers, are not yet fully addressed as rights in international and/or nationallaw. In other words, the range of rights accorded to PLHIV – from thosecontained in international instruments to constitutional to statutory rights –could still be incomplete, pointing to the need to look beyond the currentlegal bases of rights. After all, history shows that much of today’s declaredhuman rights evolved from natural rights. 10The international instruments in fact have their roots in natural law. Naturallaw was advanced by prominent European philosophers in the 16 th to the19 th centuries, notably by John Locke. The Universal Declaration of HumanRights, and other international human rights declarations after it, drewheavily from natural law when it was crafted.Among the undeclared “rights” or needs are those pertaining to intra-familyrelations, guarantees of confidentiality and governmental commitment tomeet the challenge of HIV and AIDS. To cover these, various PLHIV supportgroups all over the world have been pushing for an instrument on PLHIVrights. An example is the National Association of People Living with HIV/AIDS, a non-governmental advocacy organization in Australia, which hascome up with the document Declaration of Rights for Peoples Living withHIV/AIDS. It is not an instrument passed by inter-governmental bodies.However, through lobbying, governments could be pushed to adopt itsprovisions and those from similar initiatives, to be elevated to the level ofinter-governmental discussions that could someday result in new standards.The fight for the rights of PLHIV, after all, is still a new arena. And PLHIVmay yet look forward with greater hope and less despair.10Natural rights refer to the rights of a person by nature as a human being and not by virtue ofcitizenship in a particular country or membership in a particular group. Natural rights may beunwritten but are popularly acknowledged as morally good.INTRODUCTION CONCLUSION 59