Rates of new HIV infection among gay men, drug users and prostitutes are increasing because laws against these practices deters people from seeking medical help, according to Michel Sidibé, executive director of UNAIDS, the Associated Press reports. Sidibé said that the fact that homosexuality is still criminalized in 85 countries—and punishable by death in seven—is unacceptable, and expressed dismay over proposed legislation in Uganda that would impose the death penalty on some homosexuals. As the AP reports, Sidibé expressed concern that policies and laws that deter individuals from seeking needed medical help could unravel progress made in the fight against HIV: “You have also a growing conservatism which is making me very scared… We must insist that the rights of the minorities are upheld. If we don’t do that … I think the epidemic will grow again. We cannot accept the tyranny of the majority.”