For most of last week,a zilla parishad school in Hasegaon village in Maharashtras Latur district has had unusually low attendance. More than half the children in the school,about 150 of them,have been kept home by parents concerned about admission to the school of 10 HIV-positive children. The incident fast acquired prominence in the national news media,and the state education minister directed the district collector to submit a report. In its specifics,this would be a perfect case study in how to spread awareness about AIDS,how to reach out to people to dispel commonly held misgivings about interaction with HIV-positive persons. Instead,there is the outrage of Guardian Minister Dileep Deshmukh announcing that the administration is considering separate provision for the 10 children. AIDS awareness programmes typically have two components. One,to inculcate popular understanding of how the virus can be contracted. And two,to show that those infected can lead an ever more normal life,given the drugs regimen available with government assistance and the absence of any danger from HIV-positive persons in shared public spaces. The issue in Latur,therefore,is of the fundamental rights of the HIV-positive children and of the administrations remit to talk through the fears of parents to bring them to a more informed public debate. But as is the case in fighting any other stigma,there is a thin line between ignorance and outright prejudice. Statements like Deshmukhs cross that line,and threaten campaigns against stigma. This country spends considerable resources on AIDS campaigns. But,as seen at the Latur school,the real test lies in carefully speaking to popular fears and not allowing stigma to in any way restrict the rights of HIV-positive persons to participate freely in public spaces. Schools,for instance. It can take one village to win over so many more.
