Response to Indrani Basu''s article

[Guest guest]

Enclosed are three responses from SAATHII and readers

to Indrani Basu's article. If somebody wants to edit and send it to the Indian

Express, please do so, as it is important to condemn the irresponsible coverage

on HIV/AIDS problem and work in India (SAATHII Moderator).

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From: " fighter " <microsystem@...>

Date: Wed Jul 25, 2001 0:13pm

Subject: AIDS Scare in India

Dr Indranil Basu has most probably never treated an AIDS patient in his life.

Dr Indranil Basu's myopic, distorted and outrageous statements serve no other

purpose but to misguide everybody. His arguments are far from analytical or

sane. It is a warped, middle class morality-based, piece of doctored fiction.

AIDS does not spread 'only' through sexual contact, it also spreads through

infected blood. Sub-Saharan Africa has the most number of AIDS cases, not the

US. NACO figures are grossly under-reported. Earlier this year, in May, the

State ASIDS Cell in Bihar insisted that there were only 44 HIV cases where just

two private testing centres had figures exceeding 600. And Bihar isn't even on

the AIDS action alert map!

Let DR Basu come down to Bihar where in the people from the villages trek to

trusted testing centres and a new person tests positive almost every day.

True, Dr Basu belongs to the clique who are shouting hoarse for more money to

combat TV and other common diseases, and there is no argument about that, but to

vent his venom just because money is being set aside for HIV/AIDS care and

management is absurd.

Krishner

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From : zimmerr@...

My name is Zimmerman, I am a social scientist and consultant

interested in the HIV/AIDS issues facing India.I have just completed

an 8 months tour of India. I visited 14 states and 19 districts in

the country, my focus was to study strategies of the various

state governments, the NGO sector, the private sector, and individual

initiatives in the area of prevention, care and support.

A friend of mine has just forward me a mail from SAATHII

Forum about an article in the Indian Express, which I am told is one

of India's National Daily.

I request the author to please not make reference in a selective

sense and to then justify statements, which are totally false and

misconstitute the actual scenario.

Some of the fundamental information is wrong, like NACO'S estimate

which is 3.8 million to 4 million and not 1.75 (the article is full

of wrong information)

In all fairness one does agree there are a few rotten apples but that

is not to say that India does not have a problem....which it does.

This would have been visible if the reporter had taken the trouble of

checking out facts on the ground level. rather than do a story on the

computer with an objectivity of writing a great " STORY " .

To validate my point I suggest that the concerned person or persons

visit some of the NGO'S that are doing wonderful work or visit

incentives that help us all see the gravity of the crisis on India's

hand.One organization that I visited was The Freedom Foundation's

unit's at Ban galore, Bellary, Hyderbad and Mangalore I have not come

across such a great and noble effort right across the country, the

comprehensive wide spread spectrum of activities is inspiring and

commendable The motivation and dedication of its founder Ashok Rau is

something that has been inspiring for myself. It is even more

commendable that apart from a small budget from NACO

there are no other regular donors/funders for any of the various

activities.

As one of the senior staff (hiv+ve) said Freedom Foundation has been

and is a dream and initiative of Mr. Rau that is collectively shared

by hundreds of people involved with Freedom Foundation. It is in

places such as these that one is able to witness the true magnitude

of the HIV/AIDS crises.

Zimmerman

Email: zimmerr@...

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From: smisra <smisra@...>

Date: Wed Jul 25, 2001 5:05pm

Subject: [sAATHII] () The AIDS SCARE

It is revealing that this articles come from the Convenor of the All India

Working Group on Health Policy, as it clearly reflects well the weaknesses

in India's health policy as a whole:

- the professional ignorance (or is it dishonesty?) that compares malaria

cases (mostly non-fatal, and curable), TB infections (latent, and curable)

and HIV infections (fatal and incurable), when these are very different

kinds of figures;

- the bureaucratic arrogance which maintains that HIV is not " a national

health problem " when the Leader of the Opposition, in the name of the Prime

Minister and all parties, has just joined the rest of the world at the UN

identifying it as a very serious health problem both for India andglobally; -

the governmental greed that accuses NGOs of " looting " ;

- the nationalist inferiority complex that says that " this country's

HIV-AIDS programme is conceived, planned and implemented under the guidance of

foreign donor agencies and their so called experts " ;

- the political paranoia that describes the HIV/AIDS programme as " a conscious

but covert attempt to push India into an AIDS debt trap " ;

- the elitist contempt for people that fails to accept that 1.7 million,

3.7 million or whatever figure represents a huge, unacceptable number of people

condemned to chronic illness and premature death.

It is important for Indian policy-makers to recognise that the reason the

rest of the world treats Indian health policy with contempt is that it is

contemptible, as the article shows.

Sujaya Misra

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[Guest guest]

Dear Forum Members,

I don't know how to reach Indian Express but I would like to ask its Editorial

Department how could they accept for publication Indranil Basu's article which

reveals his utter ignorance about the AIDS situation in India or elsewhere. It

is a shame for Indian Express to publish that aricle.

Moni Nag

mn1925@...