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Journalism of Courage
Between supreme complacency and mindless panic can lie a pandemic. India can choose to be complacent about the fact that it has only an insignificant percentage of its population living with HIV/AIDS. Or it could go into a spin over the reality that it is presently home to nearly 10 per cent of the world’s HIV/AIDS-affected. What is required at this juncture is a rational approach to the disease, informed by an awareness of the experiences of nations that have had to wage almost hand-to-hand combat with it.
We have today the benefit of hindsight, the sure knowledge that going into denial over HIV/AIDS is the best way to ensure its spread. We know that if South Africa had heeded the warning signs of the early-nineties it would not now have had 5.3 million of its 45 million citizens afflicted by this condition. We know the shattering effects such a large-scale manifestation has on the economy of a nation since it destroys its worker and consumer base. According to a new report on human development and HIV/AIDS in South Asia, 90 per cent of those living with HIV/AIDS in India are in the age group of 15-49 — the most productive section, in fact. Fortunately, we also know that HIV/AIDS is not a predestined disaster, that it is possible with the required political and administrative will to wage a battle with it and win, as Uganda has proved with a combination of medical and social inputs.
There are some stirrings in the dove cotes of our health ministry of late — helped by large sums flowing in from organisations like the World Bank, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Clinton Foundation, and so on. Outside support is all very well, but the government must claim ownership of this war if it is to be a sustained one. The dominant mindset continues to be “no HIV/AIDS please, we’re Indian”. The dominant belief continues to be that cultural traditions, rather than condoms, will protect us. But HIV/AIDS is not known to adjust to social sensitivities. We must take it on before it takes us on. We must do this through a multi-sectoral approach that addresses the social and economic factors that give rise to HIV/AIDS, even as those living with it are able to access healthcare without fear or stigma.
