India 360: India serious about AIDS?

It is World’s AIDS Day on December 1 and around 40 million people today are living with AIDS, the world's deadliest contagious disease.

India now holds the second largest absolute number of HIV positive cases in the world, following South Africa, which has 5.5 million HIV infected people.

A staggering 5.21 million adults in India are living with HIV, says the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO). Of these over 60 per cent are males.

Surprisingly, more than 57 per cent of the infected people are of rural background. And the greatest worry is that about 90 per cent of the infected people do not know that they are carrying the deadly virus.

Andhra Pradesh is one of the worst affected states on India's HIV/AIDS map, having more than 12,000 cases. And the biggest challenge for AIDS agencies right now is to curb the HIV infection, 90 per cent of which is sexually transmitted.

According to the world health organization (WHO) estimates, the Indian Government spends Rs 8,000 on each HIV positive patient in the country under the Anti Retro Viral (ARV) drugs programme available to these patients in most government hospitals.

However, out of the 59,000 patients being treated under the ARV programme, most are at a critical stage and require advanced level of treatment to be able to survive.

With those shocking statistics, we would assume that the government and our lawmakers must be working overtime to take us out of this crisis.

Do Indians understand the seriousness of the AIDS threat? This was the question addressed by an elite panel on CNN-IBN's India 360 show. On the panel were Pooja Bedi, actor/TV personality, Anu Malhothra, creative director, Haath Se Haath Mila and Nafisa Ali, social activist.

Bhupendra Chaubey:The statistics which says 90 per cent of those who are carrying the HIV virus don’t even know that they are carrying this virus. Is it really a situation?

HIV/AIDS IN INDIA
	In India, about 202,000 children are estimated to be infected by HIV/AIDS
	The highest HIV prevalence rates are found in Maharashtra in the west; Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka in the south; and Manipur and Nagaland in the north-east
	90% of the infected people do not know that they are carrying the infection.
	India now holds the second largest absolute number of HIV infections in the world
	India's adult HIV prevalence will peak at 1.9% in 2019.54
	The number of AIDS deaths in India (which was estimated at 2.7 million for the period 1980-2000) will rise to 12.3 million during 2000-15, and to 49.5 million during 2015-50.55
	Around 0.9% of India's population is living with HIV
	40 million people are living with HIV around the world.
	More than 25 million people are estimated to have died since 1981 as a result of Aids-related diseases.
	In 2005, around 2.8 million people died of Aids-related illnesses, 570,000 of them children. Meanwhile, approximately 4.1 million people were newly infected.
	A staggering 5.21 million adults in India are living with HIV, says the National AIDS Control Organisation.
	Of these over 60 per cent are males.
	Astonishingly, more than 57 percent of the infected people are of rural background.
	But the greatest worry is: About 90 percent of the infected people do not know that they are carrying the deadly virus.
	Since 1986 when AIDS was first reported in India, 1,24,995 cases of the disease have been recorded till date.
	According to estimates over 85 per cent of these cases are due to unsafe sexual intercourse.

Nafisa Ali: The reality is that the information must get out to people because today you can live a long productive life with care and the right medical attention that is required. Therefore information is the key of AIDS programme anywhere in the world – the prevention part. But India today being the largest HIV population in the world and today we have no medicines available for the common man regarding the second line of drug, it’s a serious issue. When you know you give a person dignity of life, allow its children to grow up, get them married and keep them well. You are giving them a death sentence that is the tragedy and that is what I am fighting for.

Bhupendra Chaubey: Why is that we can’t supply medicines to the people. After all look at the kind of organisations, which are involved in fight against AIDS. The who’s who in the world from Bill Clinton to rocker Bono, everybody seems to be in their own way trying to help the world. Money certainly not a problem – where is the problem then?

Anu Malhothra: I think lack of awareness because if you look at the statistics the BBC World Service Trust carried out a survey in August-September 2006 in four representative states of Chattisgarh, west Bengal, Tamil Nadu and UP. Now the awareness in semi-urban and urban areas is really high, it’s 83 per cent compare to last year’s figure of 79 per cent. But the problem is rural India because 2/3rd of our people lives in the rural sector. Now because of lack of education and access to media in media dark areas you have very low awareness. So you have to build this awareness.

Bhupendra Chaubey: So Pooja Bedi would you then admit that at the end of the day what seems to have happened is that those who are fighting against this problem seem to got wrong at stage. This whole campaign against AIDS has increasingly become an urban driven campaign. Is it a campaign, which is only being driven by celebrities who actually may not even be going to the rural areas where the problem is really serious?

Pooja Bedi: The problem is definitely more in the rural areas but it’s also definitely a very urban phenomena. I have been campaigning for AIDS since 1991 since I did the Kamasutra campaign. At that point of time it was pooh-poohed and it was like ‘Oh Pooja quiet it’s a gay disease.’ I said no it’s a real thing and it’s going to take over India take over world and we have to be conscious. However people didn’t take it seriously unfortunately it has reached epidemic proportions for people to sit and take notice. I am glad that they are. Yes of course film stars are doing their bit; NGOs are doing their bit everybody is doing there bit. We can only do what we can do. But to get out there into the villages I think it takes much more than a couple of celebrities and a few NGOs that have limited resources and limited ways of reaching out. I think it’s the government to actually get into there.

Bhupendra Chaubey: I think Nafisa you would admit the point made by Pooja. That this is a problem. Why are celebrities simply trying to hijack the entire campaign?

Nafisa Ali: I don’t think they are and I think celebrities don’t have that time. So when an NGO or a body asks for support as an ambassador they come forward for that specific time period. Look at Bill Clinton he comes here, the recorded cases of children infected by HIV are 65,000 and what is Bill Clinton come and do give medicine for 10,000. I want to keep children alive. And what about the parents no body is thinking about the parents.

Bhupendra Chaubey: The problem seems to be that increasingly whether its those who are tying to fight this problem, everybody seems to be considering it like an urban phenomena whereas the real problem seems to be existing in the rural areas. The fact is that in 90’s when you (Pooja Bedi) started the Kamasutra condom campaign, you are one of the real celebrities who really brought the concept of safe sex or unprotected sex into the mainstream. But even now even you take a look at the statistics…

Pooja Bedi: People just don’t want to talk about sex. It’s considered taboo word or terrible word even when the Government, couple of years ago, said ‘you can campaign against AIDS that’s fine but you cant use the word condom in your campaign. How regressive and stupid is that. I am glad things have changed. I like the media putting stories like the AIDS couples that are getting married. It takes the shame and stigma out of being HIV positive. I think these are wonderful messages to send out. Everyone keeps saying ‘she is not that type ‘ you know I don’t understand this whole ignorance about AIDS and HIV. People need to understand that there is no type that can have AIDS or HIV. People have to practice safe sex.

Bhupendra Chaubey: But the problem still is that 85 per cent of those who are the carriers of this virus are still getting this virus because of unprotective sex. Somewhere things haven’t really worked out. Are we as a nation missing the trick here?

Pooja Bedi: I think what we need to also do is take the shame and stigma for buying out a condom. It’s a simple act of going out to purchase a condom makes people scared. Abroad I have seen condom vending machines on sidewalks. People can go and buy discreetly without feeling embarrassed. I think these are all major that we should look into. A small thing like homosexuality being a criminal offence. You can’t distribute condoms in jails because you are admitting that there is criminal offence taking place in jail.

Bhupendra Chaubey: Have you yourself been a part of any campaign which has taken place in rural areas. Have you gone to the rural areas countryside where you have tried to explain to people what safe sex is all about?

Pooja Bedi: No I haven’t been asked to do so. I have gone and spoken to sex workers. I have done AIDS campaign. I have gone and participated in charity organisation. I have done music videos spread the words being in places like this. Hopefully I pray that people tune in and listen and hopefully learn something.

Bhupendra Chaubey: What would be the one step which you would recommend to ensure the things can improve in some way?

Anu Malhothra: I would say to raise awareness in media dark areas because we need to educate people in the rural areas about the roots of transmission and prevention and about safe sex – use condoms.

Nafisa Ali: I would say educate the media. Because the media for me is a most powerful form of awareness because there are no kickbacks and there is no siphoning of funds. If the media takes on its own and says – come and not only in Worlds AIDS Day – once a week we will give 10 minutes at prime time then the best change will come. Then the Government will sit up. The grass root workers will get activated and those who want to have sex without condoms will think twice before having sex.

Bhupendra Chaubey: And Pooja, would you say that the celebrities now need to start thinking in terms of moving out of studios whether in Mumbai or in Chennai and start going to areas which really are the worse affected.

Pooja Bedi: Firstly we got to thank the celebrities for doing what they are doing. The fact is that they are taking time and making effort. Yes of course we can do more and we shall continue to try and do more. But I think it would be most effective, however, if you wanted to do things in a large scale would be to make it completely mandatory for everybody that wants to get married to get HIV tested. That’s how people will get to know what is this HIV. They will try to find out more about it and if they know that they have it they will go out there and get some help. I think that would be excellent major to address things in large scale.

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