HIV patient in Tihar jail wish to remain behind bars

[Guest guest]

NO ESCAPE FROM AIDS, The Pioneer-20 July 2001

The creation of a welfare state seems to be a far way off for developing

nations. In a strange twist of fate, an HIV positive prisoner in Delhi's

Tihar Jail has expressed the desire to be not released from prison. He

had refused to leave the jail despite a bail plea being granted in

May last year, as he was in no position to afford the expensive

life-saving drugs prescribed for an HIV-positive patient. Now, the

jail authorities have categorically told the Delhi High Court that

once he is released, they will neither provide him any treatment,

nor anti-retroviral drugs.

The onus, they say, lies with the state.

This tussle to wash ones hands off the responsibility-which everyone

is at pains to shrink- not only highlights the absence of social

security for the poor, but also the sorry state of affairs when

it comes to the treatment of AIDS patients in India. Unfortunately,

the Government is not in a position to subsidize AIDS treatment

for the affected. The picture turns even more poignant when one

actually realizes that Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)

does not not have any cure; it can at best be somewhat controlled.

So what is being passed off as treatment is not even remotely close

to it. The closest to a " cure " is the controversial " highly active

anti-retroviral therapy " (HAART), which some drug companies seek

to project as the only antidote, though it delivers little else

than promises to patients in their search for a productive life.

However, that does not offer any excuse to the Government for

ignoring its fundamental responsibility-that of providing

state-subsidized medicines to those who cannot afford to buy them.

As on date, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)

has merely two beds for people suffering from AIDS. This is not

only farcical for an Institute as big as AIIMS, but also reflects

the vapid ness of intent when it comes to helping the AIDS-affected.

In one addresses the national picture, one finds the Government on

its part has plans to set up AIDS testing centers in all district

headquarters by the end of 2002. These centers will provide pre-

and post-AIDS counseling along with free HIV determination tests.

However, subsidized " anti-retroviral " therapy, the one required by

the Tihar inmate, still remains an impossibility. A look at the data

for seven Indian cities reveals that HIV infection has crossed the

two per cent level in Mumbai, is more than one per cent in Chennai,

Bangalore and Hyderabad and hovers around the one per cent mark in

Calcutta, Ahmedabad and Delhi. This in itself should give cause for

more than just alarm, buttressed as it is by the fact that, despite

the National AIDS Control Organization's (NACO) massive HIV/AIDS

awareness budget, the National Family Health Survey, 2000 reported

that only 4 per cent women had heard of AIDS. Unfortunately, instead

of actually ameliorating the lives of the affected, people in power

are quibbling with words. Though AIDS-fighting remains encapsulated

in UNAIDS's slogans like " together we can " , the reality-like the

incident of the prisoner-exposes the closeted mindset that address

its burden.

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Forwarded by:

Dr. Jagdish Harsh

Assistant Director

François Xavier Bagnoud-India

161, Satya Niketan, Moti Bagh-II,

New Delhi-110 021

Tel: +91.11.611 1793-94; Fax: +91.11.410 7381

Email: fxbindia@...; Web: www.fxb.org/india.htm

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