We146;re getting it right

The coyness to acknowledge the problem was at the heart of India8217;s HIV/AIDS programme and has already cost us dearly in terms of valuable time and effort. For too long did we actually believe that 8220;Indian culture8221; would provide a shield against the ravages of the disease; that promiscuity may be a problem in Africa or Southeast Asia, but not in India. While countries like Thailand and Uganda adopted the sensible approach of demystifying the disease, encouraging sex education, promoting condom use, recognising gay partnerships, we kept our ostrich heads buried in the sand. The first indication of a change of stance at the highest level was in the policy pronouncements of the former Union health minister, Sushma Swaraj. She who had famously advocated marital fidelity and abstinence as the key to fighting HIV/AIDS and controlling the population, came around to making available anti-retroviral treatment free of cost to HIV positive mothers and babies in government health programmes.

The very fact that the Economic Survey had an extended section on the disease indicates the growing awareness that HIV/AIDS is not just a social problem, it has a serious economic dimension to it. There is, of course, a great deal to be done. The UN report states that India is home to one in seven HIV/AIDS cases worldwide. The situation calls for concerted and holistic action on an urgent basis, involving actors from the entire spectrum of civil society 8212; from health activists to film personalities; from politicians to economists.