World AIDS Day
According to UNAIDS estimates, there are now 33.2 million people living with HIV, including 2.5 million children. During 2007 some 2.5 million people became newly infected with the virus. Around half of all people who become infected with HIV do so before they are 25 and are killed by AIDS before they are 35.
Around 95% of people with HIV/AIDS live in developing nations. But HIV today is a threat to men, women and children on all continents around the world.
Started on 1st December 1988, World AIDS Day is about raising money, increasing awareness, fighting prejudice and improving education. World AIDS Day is important in reminding people that HIV has not gone away, and that there are many things still to be done.
Wear a red ribbon and raise awareness
The red ribbon is an international symbol of AIDS awareness that is worn by people all year round and particularly around World AIDS Day to demonstrate care and concern about HIV and AIDS, and to remind others of the need for their support and commitment.
Women and HIV
At best of times gender bias throttles the women of our country, especially those belonging to the 
lower economic strata. If they happen to contract HIV virus or AIDS, then their trauma gets hugely exacerbated. The way in which our women are treated, especially women living with HIV + or AIDS is a matter of great concern if we are seriously looking at ourselves as a progressive and advancing global country. After their husbands die of AIDS, these women are either shunned by the family and community or are forced to live on the edge of society. Nearly 40 percent of the 5.2 million HIV positive people in India are women and nearly 80 percent of them have contracted this infection from their husbands or partners. Almost 90 percent of these positive women are thrown out of their homes after their husbands die of AIDS.
The gender bias prevalent in our country against women is reflected in the increase in the incidence of HIV+ and AIDS. Women have to endure indignities and untold sufferings due to various forms of violence throughout their lives. HIV+ and AIDS have aggravated their problems because women find it very difficult to negotiate safe sex or condom use. The consequences of contracting HIV+ virus are appalling – such women have to face homelessness, increased violence, loss of jobs and families and lack of access to treatment and care.
The irony is that the general public continues to believe that most women with HIV+ or AIDS are usually commercial sex workers. But the truth is that sex workers make up less than one percent of the 2 million female infections.
What is needed to improve the lot of women afflicted with HIV+ virus or AIDS is a concerted efforts through workshops and educational forums in which students, homemakers, medical and legal professionals and other groups participate to foster a deeper understanding of HIV + and AIDS . It is also important to recognize human rights issues of the persons living with HIV+ or AIDS.
No doctor to deny treatment to HIV+ person: government
A government’s order has been issued in October 2008 to all the hospitals and doctors whether they are in the public sector or private that no hospital, doctor or param
edical staff should deny the requisite treatment to an HIV positive person. The government has put in place strict punitive measures for doctors and hospitals denying medical care to HIV positive people or treating them without dignity.
The 14-point official memorandum issued by the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO), under the health and family welfare ministry says ‘All doctors, nurses and hospital staff, whether in public sector or the private sector, shall treat HIV positive persons in a professional and humane manner, treating them always with dignity and care.
No doctor or nurse shall refuse to treat any HIV positive person on account of his positive status and treat them without any discrimination or stigma whatsoever. The case of denial of services to the positive patients would be viewed very seriously and action initiated in all such cases.
NACO order has specifically warned the doctors in the private sector and private practitioners against their tendency to administer ineffective, costly and irrational treatment ignoring the NACO guidelines to administer only particular anti-retroviral treatment, which besides being safe and cost-effective, has also shown good results. Further NACO directives have specifically asked the central and state governments to ensure that all government hospitals provide medicine and treatment to HIV positive people free of cost and do not deny the same on the grounds unavailability of drugs or equipment.
According to a 2007 study by National AIDS Control Organization (NACO), there are an estimated 2-3 million HIV patients in India.
A QUIET REVOLUTION
The public healthcare system in Tamilnadu is undergoing a quiet revolution, thanks to advanced technology and determination on all fronts to combat HIV+ and AIDS. 24x7 services are now available in the public health centres across districts. Another new development in our efforts to control HIV+ and AIDS is the commencement of telemedicine centres at the district level for which the government of Tamilnadu has associated with the Confederation of Indian Industry.
It is expected that 460 PHCs will be converted into 24x7 hospitals by the year end. The state has been given Rs.1 billion ($25 million) from the National AIDS Control Programme (NACP) to step up HIV/AIDS prevention and control at the district level. As many as 378 PHCs have testing facilities. The state has also set up a trust for care of children orphaned by AIDS, with a corpus of Rs.50 million ($1.25 million). There are 760 testing centres and more than 30 care hospitals where two million people came for voluntary HIV testing in 2007.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOWARDS A WORLD SANS AIDS
FIDELITY IS THE FOUNDATION FOR A HAPPY MARRIAGE
‘Every man’s life is a fairy-tale written by God’s fingers,’ Hans Christian Andersen rightly said. Given the present ambience of global exposure and a plethora of opportunities for advancement in myriad fields, young India is poised for a momentous take-off at the world level. At this point in time, it makes sense to strive to emerge from the shackles that hinder us from advancing to this vantage position. It is in this context that Eve’s Times, in conjunction with AIDS Prevention and Control (APAC) Project, Voluntary Healthy Services and USAID, brings to you the voices of prominent Chennaites who will record their impressions and views on the beauty of living a useful and productive life.
Pepsi Uma is Chennai’s pride and the most renowned anchorperson from the small screen who presents Tamil ethos to the entire world. Despite her immense popularity, she is a very down-to-earth person and is an Indian at heart, who has great belief in Tamil culture and values. Mention AIDS and there is a downpour of emotions from this vibrant woman. Like an unrestrained, gurgling stream, Uma vents out her thoughts on the subject without any hesitation. Excerpts:
“ The underlying foundation of a marriage is Implicit Trust, Unconditional Love and Mutual Understanding. Whether it is an arranged marriage or a love marriage, understanding and trust develops over time and are more important than what you call romance. I will go to the extent of saying that love before marriage is not true love because it is based chiefly on physical attraction and hormonal changes that happen during youth.
Even though mine was a love marriage, I realized that love is that which comes after a few years of marriage when the husband and wife have understood each other, handled many challenging situations and circumstances together. A marriage endures when the husband and wife reach a stage when their love is unconditional; similar to the love we give our children. When there is true love in a marriage, there is no place for infidelity and afflictions like AIDS.
The fact that India is leading in AIDS is a matter of great concern for all of us. It saddens me to think that, given the wealth of our intellect and cultural heritage, we are leading in AIDS. While other countries of the world are advancing in many fields, is this what we have to show for ourselves?
My heart churns when I see small, innocent children suffering due to AIDS. I have had several opportunities to interact with Persons Living with AIDS, especially children. My mind gets terribly disturbed. Do they deserve this predicament?
We need to create massive awareness and motivate the masses to refrain from all activities that can give them the affliction. It is very important to promote the concept of ‘one man - one woman, one marriage,’ in such a big way that it becomes something like an ISI stamp!
As for premarital sex I feel that it is humbug. If youngsters indulge in sex before marriage without proper knowledge or affection it will only lead to problems that they may end up grappling with throughout their lives and waste away productive years. What is required is not only education but also the inspiration to behave responsibly and for this the government as well as the media and every responsible, educated citizen should play a major role in this campaign. Today when even the foreign countries are turning to our culture for peace and happiness, we should never give up our culture. This does not mean youngsters should not move with the opposite sex. It is important to build friendships with the opposite gender also. This will enrich us as human beings and develop empathy and understanding toward the other sex. However, it is best to leave the friendship at a platonic level than develop it to something that may cause us to regret.
While I belong to the media industry myself, I strongly feel that the cinema and the visual media can play a very constructive role in inculcating cultural and moral values. Today youngsters are exposed to an overload of glamour and violence that affect their thoughts and actions. Movies of earlier times inculcated family values and humanism. Today, they give rise to the thought that anything and everything is okay.
Recently I had been out for dinner to a star hotel in the city with our family when we had relatives visiting from abroad. We were waiting in the lobby and I was shocked to see the attitude and the dress of many youngsters who were going to the discotheque. Dancing vigorously with strangers in darkness is not my idea of fun. In our society, such youth are not respected. As for parents, I feel that giving too much freedom to children is not good. Parents should clearly outline the limits that children cannot transcend.
While we try to emulate the attitude and dress of the western countries, why don’t we follow their developments? Everyday there is a new invention… take the iPod for example. Today you can even send a fax using a mobile phone. It keeps me wondering where we are heading today. We must all prevent this cultural degradation.
The government, NGOs and various other organizations are doing a lot for the cause of AIDS. Individuals must also adopt all safety measures and ensure that they all precautions are taken to prevent being affected by AIDS. Moreover, I feel that apprising citizens of the consequences of AIDS will give better results than cautioning them. However, nothing like stressing on Morality. “ONE PERSON, ONE MARRIAGE,’ is the concept we must instill in our people. Healthy and peaceful sex with one person till the last is what everybody should follow. That alone can beget true happiness.
