************************************************************* SAATHII Electronic Newsletter HIV NEWS FROM INDIA SOURCE: Kangla Online, The Economic Times, The Hindustan Times,www.khabrein.info, The Times of India, www.hardnewsmedia.com, Posted on: 07/09/2007 COMPILED BY: Randhir Kumar, B. Vilasini, and L. Ramakrishnan SAATHII Chennai office. Note: this compilation contains news items about HIV/AIDS published in the Indian media, as well as articles relevant to HIV/AIDS in India published internationally. Articles in this and previous newsletters may also be accessed at http://www.saathii.org/orc/elibrary =============================================================== 1. NGOs funds not released due to UG threat, says director (Imphal) Kangla Online, September 3, 2007. http://www.kanglaonline.com/index.php?template=headline&newsid=39110&typeid=1 2. Alarming rise in AIDS cases in Delhi (New Delhi) The Economic Times, September 3, 2007. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Alarming_rise_in_AIDS_cases_in_Delhi/articleshow/2330604.cms 3. Anti-AIDS blitz sees pharma firms locked in ugly battle (New Delhi) The Economic Times, September 3, 2007. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Anti-AIDS_blitz_sees_pharma_firms_locked_in_ugly_battle/rssarticleshow/2328352.cms 4. India's first condom bar in Chandigarh (Chandigarh) The Hindustan Times, September3, 2007. http://www.hindustantimes.com/Redir.aspx?ID=3398e8fd-ade5-4707-96f5-60562259e856&ParentID=98306227-9063-4b75-81cb-e75163594013 5. Shadow of terror over AIDS funds in Manipur (New Delhi) The Hindustan Times, September 3, 2007. http://www.hindustantimes.com/Redir.aspx?ID=233d6cac-d619-42c2-96a0-bcd5f9116147 6. NGOs' act amounts to violating MoU: MSACS (Imphal) Kangla Online, September 3, 2007. http://www.kanglaonline.com/index.php?template=headline&newsid=39102&typeid=1 7. AIDS drug maybe effective in cancer (India) The Times of India, September 3, 2007. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/AIDS_drug_maybe_effective_in_cancer/articleshow/2330455.cms 8. School for kids, HIV-affected (Bangalore) The Times of India, September 3, 2007. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Bangalore/School_for_kids_HIV-affected/articleshow/2332270.cms 9. Aid paid, zero for AIDS (New Delhi) www.hardnewsmedia.com, September 5, 2007. http://www.hardnewsmedia.com/portal/2007/09/1150 10. HIV testing at BPOs may be illegal (India) The Economic Times, September 5, 2007. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Personal_Finance/Savings_Centre/HIV_testing_at_BPOs_may_be_illegal/articleshow/2338422.cms =============================================================== 1. NGOs' funds not released due to UG threat, says director (Imphal) Kangla Online, September 3, 2007 http://www.kanglaonline.com/index.php?template=headline&newsid=39110&typeid=1 Imphal: NGOs` funds not released due to UG threat, says director Reacting to the ultimatum served by the All Manipur NGO Partners Consortium on HIV/AIDS, the Project Director of MSACS said that fund was not released due to threat from an armed organisation. Dr TR Kom said an executive committee meeting was held on 30th July 2007 at the Secretariat under the chairmanship of health secretary and it was decided to start process for releasing funds for NGOs. Dr Kom said that at this juncture an armed group demanded that the funds should not be released since some of the NGOs are not genuinely working for the cause of HIV/AIDS. He said that the group threatened him of dire consequences if he leased the funds. Thereafter, as told by the PD, a meeting with the partner NGOs was held on 18th August at MSACS where it was assured that MSACS will try to process the funding at the earliest. He said that appeals to the external forces to allow smooth fund flow did not evoke any response and hence, the delay. However the PD said that apart from money, all other supports in terms of kinds are being given by MSACS regularly. He said that the other reason for the delay was due to the evaluation that is being outsourced to RIMS` community medicine by NACO. He said that the final report of this evaluation which was started in June 2007 will be submitted on 1st September. He said that this phase being the ending part of NACP II and starting of NACP III, NACO asked for an in-depth evaluation to assess performance of the NGOs so that those NGOs with unsatisfactory performance can be discontinued in NACP III. The deputy director Dr Manikanta said that NACP III was to initially start in Manipur early but NACO has been requested to postpone it till March 2008 in the NGOs` interest. As told by the PD, there are altogether 75 NGOs under MSACS of which 57 are working on targeted intervention and the remaining 18 on PPTCT. =============================================================== 2. Alarming rise in AIDS cases in Delhi (New Delhi) The Economic Times, September 3, 2007. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Alarming_rise_in_AIDS_cases_in_Delhi/articleshow/2330604.cms New Delhi: Alarming rise in AIDS cases in Delhi India may have reduced its HIV/AIDS-affected population at the national level by over 50 per cent according to the revised estimates, but the incidence of the disease in the capital has risen dramatically from 498 cases in 2000 to 5,082 in 2007, says an official report. According to a central health ministry report, Delhi reported 743 new AIDS cases between January and June 2007 while 97 people succumbed to the disease during the same period. The ministry said there had been only 64 AIDS patients in 1994, but now the figure has crossed 5,000. "There could be two reasons behind the increasing number of AIDS cases in Delhi first the increasing number of floating population and second the initiation of the anti-retroviral treatment (ART) programme," said a ministry official. "In the last three years the situation has become alarming. While the number of AIDS patients was just 949 in 2004, it jumped to 2,414 by December 2005," said a ministry official. "2006 was the worst year in Delhi, with the city reporting 1,925 cases last year. At least 80 people also died of AIDS last year which is almost double the number of deaths in 2005," the official told media. The report revealed that since 1993 Delhi has recorded 460 deaths from the disease. Currently, India is home to over 2.5 million HIV/AIDS patients, according to new estimates published jointly by the World Health Organisation (WHO), UNAIDS and the National AIDS Control Society (NACO).The earlier estimate was 5.2 million. Mahesh Ganesan, a doctor working with the non-profit AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), said: "Apart from the migrating population and free treatment, what is more important is the vulnerability factor. "It's a myth that a large population in Delhi is aware of AIDS. Industrial workers and youth remain the main vulnerable sections. Higher prevalence of pre-marital sex sometimes in adolescence - also contribute to the numbers," he added. "Seen in a nationwide perspective, Delhi is not a high prevalence state. Yet it is in a transition phase. People, government and voluntary health workers, therefore, must be cautious to check this growth." Health ministry officials said the recently launched National AIDS Control Programme-III has set a target of halting and reversing the spread of the disease over the next five years. "So far as Delhi is concerned, our state AIDS Control Society has drawn up a major mission to create awareness," said an official in the state health ministry. "Railway stations, the Metro, bus terminals and major shopping areas are the focus points. And the medium includes FM radio, the usual print advertisements, posters and banners by the thousands and hundreds of hoardings and panels." =============================================================== 3. Anti-AIDS blitz sees pharma firms locked in ugly battle (New Delhi) The Economic Times, September 3, 2007. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Anti-AIDS_blitz_sees_pharma_firms_locked_in_ugly_battle/rssarticleshow/2328352.cms New Delhi: Anti-AIDS blitz sees pharma firms locked in ugly battle It's a potent cocktail of rivalries involving pharma companies and NGOs. It hasnow emerged that AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the US-based NGO that accused Cipla of over pricing anti-AIDS drug, Viraday, in India is part funded by American anti-AIDS drug maker Gilead and the NGO's treasurer is a senior Gilead executive. This is largely the reason why foreign and Indian NGOs such as Medicine Sans Frontier (MSF), Delhi Network of Positive People (DNP+), Indian Network of Positive People (INP+), Sahara and others refused to be part of AHF's anti-Cipla campaign. Cipla had refused Gilead's offer to sell the latter's anti-AIDS drug Viread under a licensing agreement. Cipla is also the only Indian company opposing Gilead's patent application for its blockbuster anti-HIV drug Viread in India. The hearing for the patent case of Viread is due in October. Gilead has entered into a contract with 10 Indian companies to sell Viread in India and other countries. These companies, which include Ranbaxy, Alkem, Aurobindo, Emcure, Hetero Drugs, Matrix Laboratories and Shasun Chemicals & Drugs among others, are not opposing Gilead's patent application. Says a head of an NGO, who did not participate in the anti-Cipla campaign: There is a conflict of interest in the campaign. AHF is funded by multinational pharma companies. A senior Gilead executive is one of the directors of AHF and the campaign choose to target Cipla for over pricing at a time when it is fighting Gilead's patent case in India. There is a discomfort and many civil society groups decided to stay away from the campaign. Following the campaign, the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practice Commission is set to probe Cipla's pricing of the anti-HIV drug Viraday in India. AHF Asia Pacific bureau chief Chinkholal Thangsing, who is spearheading the campaign, however, dismissed the allegation. AHF is not for sale to Gilead or any other company. We differ with Gilead on many issues and have expressed that concern publicly and privately. We are opposed to Gilead's application for a patent in India. Gilead was not involved in AHF's decision to run advertisements asking Cipla to bring down prices in India, he said. When contacted, Gilead senior V-P and general counsel Gregg Alton, who is also the treasurer of AHF told ET: Gilead is not funding or in any way involved with AHF's campaign. As a board member of AHF, I was made aware of this campaign, but neither I nor Gilead have any involvement in it. Gilead Foundation, a non-profit entity of the drug company Gilead, provided a grant of $7,50,000 to AHF in 2006 for a program to support HIV patients in Uganda. Similarly, the grant supports work to direct resources for education, outreach and infrastructure to AHF programs in India and Southeast Asia, he added. A Cipla official said, Given the context, AHF's campaign is motivated by MNCs and there is a straight forward agenda to malign Cipla. From where does AHF get the money to pay for such huge advertisements? We are suing AHF for the false allegation. Dr Thangsing said AHF targeted Cipla as it is the leader amongst the generic AIDS drugs manufacturer and charges the highest prices among generic companies. Cipla and MSF have confirmed that the Indian company had indeed offered to sell Viraday at Rs 21,000 in Africa, as recently as June 2007, while it sells the same drug for Rs 54,000 in India, he alleged. AHF has so far spent $25,000 for the campaign but the money has come from AHF's own fund, he said. =============================================================== 4. India's first condom bar in Chandigarh (Chandigarh) The Hindustan Times, September 3, 2007. http://www.hindustantimes.com/Redir.aspx?ID=3398e8fd-ade5-4707-96f5-60562259e856&ParentID=98306227-9063-4b75-81cb-e75163594013 Chandigarh: India's first condom bar in Chandigarh Interiors decorated with real condoms, beer mugs in the condom shape, staff dresses with condom prints... a bar cum discotheque that opens in Chandigarh on Wednesday will be like none other in India. Billed as the country's first "condom bar", it aims to make people, especially youngsters, aware of AIDS and the need for safe sex. And that is not all. The bar will make available free condoms as well as priced ones available to clients. It will even give condoms in lieu of loose change. That this new idea is being implemented by a semi-government organisation Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Development Corp (CITCO) - makes it even more unique. "Condoms should be seen as friends and people should get over with inhibitions regarding it. We at CITCO wanted to fulfil our social commitment and this bar has been initiated in this context," Jasbir Singh Bir, the enthusiastic CITCO managing director, told the agency. CITCO was approached by some NGOs working for HIV and AIDS and that's how the idea to have a condom bar came up. "We want to target youngsters looking at the ground realities of today's social needs.The entire enterprise will be run on a no-profit basis," Bir added. College student Shaurya Mehta said: "This should be an interesting idea if it works. But many people will have to get over with the hesitation of walking into a condom bar to make it a success." True to its word, CITCO has kept prices at the lowest possible - for instance, a vegetarian thali will cost just Rs 45. For a basic cover charge, entry will be allowed to the bar cum disc and the cost of the food and drinks will be deducted from that. Giving a professional touch to the new disc will be DJ Sandy from Delhi's Vasant Vihar area frequented by youth. CITCO also plans to hold a beauty and fashion contest for people suffering from HIV to give them a feeling that they are very much part of society. The condom bar cum disc is located at the sprawling Kalagram complex Chandigarh's equivalent of Delhi Haat on the Chandigarh-Panchkula highway. =============================================================== 6. Shadow of terror over AIDS funds in Manipur (New Delhi) The Hindustan Times, September 3, 2007. http://www.hindustantimes.com/Redir.aspx?ID=233d6cac-d619-42c2-96a0-bcd5f9116147 New Delhi: Shadow of terror over AIDS funds in Manipur It is probably the biggest casualty of insurgent groups exorbitant extortion demands. The Manipur State AIDS Control Society has stopped disbursing funds altogether since April to stop the money from going into the wrong hands. The MSACS is the nodal agency that provides funds on behalf of the National AIDS Control Organisation to 67 projects aimed at combating AIDS across Manipur. In 2006-07, NACO released approximately Rs 20 crore to the state, one of the worst-hit with 25,000 HIV-positive people. The money is much needed and goes into the treatment and rehabilitation of HIV patients. But with no money coming in since April, some community care centres for HIV-positive people have started shutting down. We are compelled to close down our centre as the authority has failed to release the necessary fund, said Udoi Thongam, a functionary of the 10-bed care centre at Canchipur. As a result, eight of the 10 patients have been discharged while the remaining two have been referred to a hospital. Likewise, fewer and fewer patients are turning up at the care centres in view of the unavailability of drugs, medicines and food. Services providers (NGOs) are afraid this will once again create a gap between them and the patients. We are afraid they may go back to their hidden population, said Meisnam Pushpakanta of Hands for Peaceful society, who too is HIV-positive. The caregiver feels all the work that has gone into containing the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the region will be "useless" even if 10 per cent of the targeted 40,670 intravenous drug users, including those with HIV, decide to hide in the general population. The MSACS has stopped funds to over 50 NGOs. Project director Dr T.R. Kom told HT over telephone: We can't release the funds because of some external forces. If we release the funds without their consent, we will be in trouble. He added: They may be insurgents. On Friday, some unidentified persons left a hand grenade at the director's residence in Langol Laimanai without saying anything. The police, who defused the bomb, suspect it to be the work of insurgents. =============================================================== 6. NGOs' act amounts to violating MoU: MSACS (Imphal) Kangla Online, September 3, 2007. http://www.kanglaonline.com/index.php?template=headline&newsid=39102&typeid=1 Imphal: NGOs' act amounts to violating MoU: MSACS Dr Manikanta, deputy director Intervention, MSACS, said that NACO is giving strict orders to MSACS to blacklist some of the NGOs of Manipur which fail to fulfill NACO guidelines. Speaking to IFP, Dr Manikanta said that with the coming of National AIDS Control Programme Phase III NACO is carrying out an assessment and evaluation of the NGOs of Manipur. He said that the work is being outsourced to RIMS community medicine. Conveying that the outcome and recommendations of this evaluation is highly important for drafting the new MoUs that has to be signed among the NGO partners of MSACS, the deputy director said that MSACS has requested NACO to extend the partnership with the present NGOs till March 2008. Responding to the charges leveled by NGO consortium, Dr Manikanta said, "The fund for April to June 2007 was already released by NACO but could not be sanctioned by MSACS due to some incomplete procedures. However it would amount to violation of the MoU signed with MSACS by the partners NGO if they refuse to work or if the fund delay affects their work. At the time of signing MoU, the partner NGOs proved that they have enough assets and ability to sustain in situation of fund delay. Some NGOs are 5 years old. If they are not able to sustain on their own till now, their credibility can be questioned." Dr Manikanta said that NACO fund is released on quarterly basis and lots of procedures are required before releasing the same by MSACS. He said that many of the NGOs funded by foreign donors still work without getting fund for long time. He asked, "Are our partner NGOs working for the causes of HIV/AIDS or for their own interests? If they create hue and cry like this, how can they maintain sustainability?" =============================================================== 7. AIDS drug maybe effective in cancer (India) The Times of India, September 3, 2007. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/AIDS_drug_maybe_effective_in_cancer/articleshow/2330455.cms India: AIDS drug maybe effective in cancer A type of drug commonly used to treat HIV can slow the growth of cancer cells, researchers have found. The discovery raises hopes that drugs developed to fight one killer disease could help tackle another. The HIV drug nelfinavir is now going through its first trial in patients with a range of cancers, in light of the new evidence. Cancer scientists think that by 'repositioning' drugs already approved as HIV therapies, they could help to save lives by reducing the 15-year wait and estimated $1 billion for getting a cancer drug from lab to clinic. Phillip Dennis and his co-workers at the US National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, began testing HIV drugs on cancer cells after noticing that the toxic effects the virus has on cells are similar to the changes seen in cancerous cells. The quest for new ways to treat cancer has previously led to painkillers and morning-sickness treatments being enlisted to fight the disease. Dennis' team tried adding six approved HIV drugs to a wide variety of cancer cell types grown in the lab. Three of the drugs significantly slowed the growth of the tumour cells and increased cell death, the researchers report in the journal Clinical Cancer Research. The most effective of the three, nelfinavir, which impedes the activity of protein-degrading enzymes in the cell, also blocked tumour growth in mice injected with cancer cells. UK, who has previously found that a different HIV drug, lopinavir, has potential for stopping cervical cancer. "Cancers have many parallels to viral infection," he says. Hampson suggests that viruses such as HIV defend themselves against the immune system by switching on the host cell's garbage disposal unit called the proteasome, so that protective immune proteins are destroyed before they can fight the virus. Cancer-causing mutations can also activate the proteasome, so drugs that block protein breakdown, such as nelfinavir, could theoretically halt both diseases. Nelfinavir is now in preliminary clinical trials, which should reveal the dose that can be tolerated by patients with cancer, and how it affects solid tumours in the body. The idea of moving drugs between branches of medicine is gaining ground 'HIV drugs are being tested against the SARS virus, and the anti-malarial drug chloroquine is being explored as a potential cancer therapy. Dennis says that "the concept of screening all drugs for anti-cancer properties has potential", and he hopes that a plan to test every drug approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) on tumour cells will go ahead. =============================================================== 8. School for kids, HIV-affected (Bangalore) The Times of India, September 3, 2007. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Bangalore/School_for_kids_HIV-affected/articleshow/2332270.cms Bangalore: School for kids, HIV-affected Here is some hope for abandoned HIV-positive kids. Women entrepreneurs and corporates from leading business houses have come together to start a school-cum-training centre for abandoned kids and HIV-positive persons. Needz, a trust working towards this, was inaugurated by health minister R Ashok on Sunday at the Infant Jesus Home for Children at Dodda Gubbi. Ashok said, initiatives to address the issues faced by HIV positive persons is great. But he advised the trust members against naming or running the institution exclusively for such people as it would separate them from the mainstream. The institution aims to adopt around 50 children, currently housed at the Infant Jesus Home for Children, and impart education to them. A vocational training institute will be part of the initiative. Mother Vinnigaurd, a German who runs the Infant Jesus Home for Children, said it is time Indians contributed to social causes and fight against the stigma. "I have been in India for more than three decades. Now, I am an Indian and I feel everyone should chip in for such a noble cause. We don't have to go to Germany or any other country. We have the capacity to address our concerns ourselves," she said. =============================================================== 9. Aid paid, zero for AIDS.(New Delhi) www.hardnewsmedia.com, September 5, 2007. http://www.hardnewsmedia.com/portal/2007/09/1150 New Delhi: Aid paid, zero for AIDS A debate is raging on the number of HIV/AIDS patients in India. It could be anywhere between 5.7 or 2.5 million. However, these are just numbers. Somewhere, we forgot to talk about people. Issues of injustice and discrimination against the counted ones are often neglected. Sadanand (name changed), 40, can't see with his left eye: the result of a sudden rise in blood pressure. When he approached a hospital in Delhi, he was denied operation. Why? He was HIV positive. His travails lasted for almost a year. On August 8, 2006, Sadanand visited the Guru Nanak Hospital in Delhi, where Dr B Ghosh advised him an immediate operation to save his eyesight. As a date for the operation was being fixed he informed that he was HIV positive, and showed his prescriptions to the doctor, thinking that his HIV positive status should come for consideration in his treatment. Dr Ghosh asked him to come back after a few days. Consequently, when he went to the doctor on August 15, he was kept waiting for hours. He was asked to come after 15 days. A desperate Sadanand visited the doctor again on September 1. He told the doctor that he was being discriminated because he is HIV positive. At this, the doctor warned him not to visit him again as he could infect other patients. However, Dr Ghosh finally agreed to an operation, scheduled for September 25, after Sadanand threatened to file a police report. On the day of the scheduled operation, Sadanand waited outside the operation theatre the entire day. At around 5 pm, Dr Ghosh declared that he would not conduct the operation. Sadanand gave up and went for private treatment at Shroff Hospital, Daryaganj, in New Delhi. The operation was not entirely successful since by then it was too late. Sadanand can now see partially with his right eye, his left eye lost forever. He had to pay Rs 16,000 for his treatment at Shroff Hospital. He works as a counsellor for voluntary organisation, his monthly income is Rs 8,000, he lives in a rented flat, looks after his mother and spends at least Rs 2,000 a month on his treatment. An agitated Sadanand filed an FIR against Dr Ghosh. The police, instead, sent him to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), saying that cases of discrimination by government officials do not fall under their jurisdiction. So he approached the NHRC as the last resort and got a case filed against Dr Ghosh on October 26, 2006, the receipt for which (Registration number 3006/30/2006-2007/OC) he got on December 15. On February 1, 2007, the NHRC informed Sadanand that his case has been referred to the then health secretary, Delhi, DS Negi, for further action. As I presented my case before Negi, his attitude seemed dubious. He gave me a vague assurance that he will look into the matter, and that he had asked his personal assistant to talk to the doctor, says Sadanand. He kept on visiting the secretariat. Twice, he claims, he was wrongly informed that the secretary was not present, although Sadanand could see him sitting inside. After about four or five futile visits, Sadanand finally got to meet Negi on July 25, a day before he was transferred from the department. I have accepted my fate, Sadanand says. I know the new secretary will also show the same attitude and nothing will be done. Dr Ghosh will never be convicted because he is a government official. Who can touch him? My health is more important to me. I have to fight for my living now, not the case of blatant victimisation. Ironically, Sadanand was the first HIV positive person to have been registered for free medication under the HIV/AIDS programme of the government of India. Another case is that of Savitri (name changed), 38, a housewife based in Nehona in Bihar. After being suspicious of her symptoms, she visited a doctor in Safdarjung Hospital. She complained of recurrent fever, headache, irregular menstruation and weight loss. The doctor recommended a list of tests been registered for urine, stool, blood and ultrasound tests, and asked Savitri to get them done from private pathological labs, as the handwriting of the lab attendants in Safdarjung Hospital was illegible, and the reports unreliable. Savitri got the tests done from outside. They cost her around Rs 2,500. I thought if I disobeyed the doctor's orders I too would get AIDS like my husband, who did not go for tests even after the doctors told him to, she says. After submitting the test reports, Savitri complained of vaginal irritation. The doctor suspected a sexually transmitted disease (STD) and asked Savitri to lie own so she could take her vaginal fluid. During the conversation, Savitri disclosed that her husband is HIV positive. The doctor immediately pulled back her hand and scolded Savitri for not informing her earlier. The doctor refused to take the vaginal sample and asked Savitri to get an Elisa test done. After examining the report, which declared Savitri positive, the doctor refused to treat her and referred her to Dr Ravindran. He recommended fresh tests; Savitri had to spend another Rs 2,000. It was only later that Dr Ravindran got to know about Savitri's travails and accused the earlier doctor of discrimination. This, however, made things worse for Savitri, as Dr Ravindran went on a long leave, and Savitri had to again go to the doctor who had rejected her. Losing all hope and heavily in debt, Savitri and her husband returned to their home in Nehona in, Bihar. Contrast this human tragedy to the lavish financial reality of the HIV/AIDS programme in India. Among the major national health programmes, finances for HIV/AIDS is second only to malaria. It has been occupying a prominent place since the beginning of the Ninth Five Year Plan, 1997. By the end of the Plan, the financial allocation for the HIV/AIDS programme was almost equal to that of the programme on malaria eradication. While the total outlay on malaria eradication has been Rs 9,630 million during 1997-2002, that of the HIV/AIDS programme has been Rs 7,280 million. According to the ministry of health, over the years, the financial allocation to the HIV/AIDS programme has recorded the highest growth (approximately 100 per cent rise during (1997-2002) among all national programmes. Nearly 75 per cent of the total funds procured by the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) is officially diverted to prevention and awareness. Rs 40 billion has been spent in the National AIDS Control Programme or NACP-I and NACP-II since 1998 towards prevention and awareness alone. A budget of Rs. 11,585 crore has recently been announced for NACP-III, of which a little over 75 per cent is towards prevention measures. Besides the major sources, there are several smaller organisations, national and international, involved in awareness-building and other prevention mechanisms through internal funds. The question is, Are these massive expenditures and efforts towards prevention, and especially awareness, fulfilling their objectives? Especially when doctors, and that too of public hospitals, discriminate against HIV positive or AIDS patients? There must be hundreds of cases similar to those of Sadanand and Savitri. Christy Abraham, head of ActionAid's HIV and AIDS project in India, sums it up. NACO's approach towards HIV/AIDS is narrow. We don't need to take AIDS as an enemy to combat. The focus should be on combating discrimination, she says. PK Hota, former secretary in the Union ministry of health, admits that NACO may have failed to utilise its funds properly. He claims that they have succeeded on the awareness front. When a major chunk of the AIDS funds have gone to awareness generation, at the cost of care and treatment, how come the doctors have remained so unaware? What is the point of even doubling the funds allocated to the HIV/AIDS programme if doctors and public hospitals continue to be so brazenly insensitive and inhuman? =============================================================== 10. HIV testing at BPOs may be illegal.(India) The Economic Times, September 5, 2007. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Personal_Finance/Savings_Centre/HIV_testing_at_BPOs_may_be_illegal/articleshow/2338422.cms India: HIV testing at BPOs may be illegal June 2007 opened a can of worms in what is fast becoming one of India's most controversial and sensitive labour law issues. Media reports recently said a few BPOs were examining the possibility of introducing HIV testing at their call centres. Among the various concerns raised on the proposition were whether such testing would be discriminatory to employees and unconstitutional. As per the National AIDS Control Organisation's (NACO) 2006 estimate, adult HIV prevalence in India is about 0.36%,with 2-3 million living with HIV. Undoubtedly, AIDS is one of the most serious issues faced by India. It is now a workplace issue because it affects labour and productivity, and also workplace has a vital role to play in the struggles to limit the spread and effects of the epidemic. There is a debate on the issue of whether there should be mandatory testing of people suspected of carrying HIV. Adopting a tempered stance, the government says there is no public health rationale for mandatory testing of a person for HIV/AIDS. But a fall-out of such opinion is that it could be counter-productive since it may scare away a large number of suspected cases from getting detected and treated. An alternate and more conducive approach would be to have HIV testing carried out on a voluntary basis, with appropriate pre and post-test counselling, in line with the WHO guidelines. Government, through NACO, has issued a comprehensive HIV testing policy. NACO has stated that no mandatory HIV testing should be imposed as a precondition for employment or for providing healthcare services... in private firms. Testing should be voluntary after obtaining informed consent, with pre and post-test counselling. In 1997, the Bombay High Court came out with a landmark judgment on HIV testing. The court, under Articles 14, 16 and 21, held that an HIV positive person cannot be denied recruitment if the person is otherwise fit for work. In subsequent judgments, various HCs have held that a person cannot be deprived of his right to livelihood except according to procedure established by law. It is relevant to note that a person who is rendered incapable either due to a HIV positive status or due to suffering from full-blown AIDS, or who poses a health risk to other persons at the workplace, may be reasonably and justifiably denied employment. Such exclusion may not be held to be discriminatory or arbitrary since such classification by an employer is based on a nexus with the object to be achieved, ie., to ensure the capacity of the employee for performing his normal requisite job functions and to safeguard the physical health interests of other employees at the workplace. It is interesting to note that said judgments relate to employment in public sector and government undertakings, like the police force. This establishes the government's stance that discrimination at workplace merely on the ground that an employee is HIV positive is illegal, which is in line with several countries, including the US and Australia. The government also opposes any form of HIV testing which is not voluntary, and further, any such testing should not be a pre-condition for employment in the private sector. Thus, a bare analysis of the proposition of BPOs to conduct pre-employment HIV tests may be deemed unconstitutional and violative of an individual's right to livelihood. However, there are no precedents on the issue in the private sector as of late. Thus, one has to place reliance on NACO's guidelines on the matter. =============================================================== Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in the above articles are those of the respective newspapers, not those of SAATHII.