AIDS - and the battle continues....
The recent UN report has confirmed what we suspected for a long time. India is officially now the country with the largest number of AIDS infections.
" The UN has said that India now has the largest number of AIDS infections, as the spread of the epidemic that has claimed 25 million lives shows no signs of letting up.The data shows that India has 5.7 million people living with HIV/AIDS, surpassing South Africa's 5.5 million.But the epidemic still remains at its worst in sub-Saharan Africa, where per capita rates in several countries continue to climb."
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation which has been doing some pioneering work in fighting AIDS globally ( and in India) provides a very quick backgrounder on the disease in the country and some policy fact sheets . Particularly hard-hit are the states in the South ( Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh ,Maharashtra) and North-east.
Ignorance is no bliss for diseases. With the abysmal sex education levels even among the literate population ( and of course the illiterates) and the social stigma associated with the disease , India's case isn't easy . With an extremely low public funding for the disease, the onus is on a joint public-private partnership to combat the disease.
Apart from a war footing public education campaign at all primary health centers and hospitals , the Government should seek the help of Bollywood in ensuring that the masses in the high-risk group are educated about the AIDS disease.
1.How about a compulsory newsreel before every movie (or during the intermission) on sex education and AIDS ?
2. How about a made for TV series like the famous " Mile sur mera tumhara" but this time with a focus on AIDS starring the famous Bollywood stars ? ( or even a made for TV movie)
Let us do it before its too late.
The recent UN report has confirmed what we suspected for a long time. India is officially now the country with the largest number of AIDS infections.
" The UN has said that India now has the largest number of AIDS infections, as the spread of the epidemic that has claimed 25 million lives shows no signs of letting up.The data shows that India has 5.7 million people living with HIV/AIDS, surpassing South Africa's 5.5 million.But the epidemic still remains at its worst in sub-Saharan Africa, where per capita rates in several countries continue to climb."
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation which has been doing some pioneering work in fighting AIDS globally ( and in India) provides a very quick backgrounder on the disease in the country and some policy fact sheets . Particularly hard-hit are the states in the South ( Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh ,Maharashtra) and North-east.
Ignorance is no bliss for diseases. With the abysmal sex education levels even among the literate population ( and of course the illiterates) and the social stigma associated with the disease , India's case isn't easy . With an extremely low public funding for the disease, the onus is on a joint public-private partnership to combat the disease.
Apart from a war footing public education campaign at all primary health centers and hospitals , the Government should seek the help of Bollywood in ensuring that the masses in the high-risk group are educated about the AIDS disease.
1.How about a compulsory newsreel before every movie (or during the intermission) on sex education and AIDS ?
2. How about a made for TV series like the famous " Mile sur mera tumhara" but this time with a focus on AIDS starring the famous Bollywood stars ? ( or even a made for TV movie)
Let us do it before its too late.
posted by Cogito at
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
3 Comments:
at a recent aids conference in the us, india was used as an example for hiv control. apparently india has done a good job at preventing the rapid spread of the deadly virus.
By
Abhishek Chatterjee, at 9:45 AM
Was it not last time that Clinton visited India he was praising India for the timely preventive measures for AIDS Control.Ans after that we manage to come first in the world.Agree with you that something needs to be done immediately.
By
Chilla-Bong, at 10:53 PM
While there has been a lot of innovative campaigns in India ( Like the pulli raja one in TN) , there is still a level of stigma associated with it. An example is the recent controversy in WB.
The Govt funding is still pretty low and needs to be increased.Also by signing on to the IPR thing , the price of AIDS drugs might go up.
By
Cogito, at 9:31 AM
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