Patriarchy, alcohol hinder AIDS control

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SUNDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2001 THE TIMES OF INDIA

Patriarchy, alcohol hinder AIDS control

BANGALORE: A male-dominated society and alcohol abuse are proving to be huge

barriers in battling the AIDS epidemic in India, which has the second highest

number of HIV carriers in the world, officials said. " In India the disease is

growing at an alarming rate, " said Ashok Rau, a member of National AIDS Control

Organisation, which formulates policies and implements programmes to prevent and

control the disease. " It is no more confined to prostitutes and truck drivers.

Everyone, from corporate chiefs to college students and children are being

infected by AIDS now, " said Rau, who also heads the non-governmental Freedom

Foundation. Rau, whose foundation won a Commonwealth award for action on

HIV/AIDS last month, said India's rigid social customs where men enjoyed a

privileged status hindered the use of condoms.

" Sex per se is a hidden agenda in India. Here there is very little pleasure or

romance involved in sex. The Indian culture does not permit the use of condoms,

which so far is the only preventive tool, " he said. Rau said cultural dictates

and disparities in Indian society prevented a woman from even requesting her

partner to use a condom for safe sex.

According to a Freedom Foundation study of Karnataka, more than 70 per cent of

patients who tested positive for HIV contracted it under the influence of

alcohol. " One of the biggest constraints is people indulging in sex under the

influence of alcohol when they never use a condom, " Rau said in an interview.

" In India alcohol does not affect the libido because performance is not the

criteria here like in the West. For most women, it is some dirty act that has to

be finished fast, " he said.S

ome 3.5 million Indians are HIV positive, although unofficial estimates put the

figure at closer to five million. By early next century, India will have the

highest number of AIDS cases in the world, the AIDS organisation said. " Even if

HIV infection reaches the low level of five per cent seen in many other

countries, more than 37 million Indians would be HIV infected, " the organisation

said.

Three quarters of the victims are concentrated in five states, with the southern

state of Tamil Nadu at the top followed by Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra

Pradesh and Manipur. Vijay Kumar, an official at the Network for AIDS

Prevention, a group coordinating all private organisations dealing with the

malady, said that there was no " systematic " effort by the government to gather

information about HIV carriers.

" The effort has been quite erratic and there is a vast majority of HIV-infected

people still untouched, " Kumar said. " No systematic study or surveillence has

been done. So the numbers will be on the higher side, " he said.Both Rau and

Kumar said it was time for the government to act seriously to contain the

disease. " Government should take drastic steps on a war-footing. They will have

to subsidise treatment for AIDS and educate people not only in the urban centres

but from the grassroot level, " Kumar said, adding that funds were readily

available.

Institutions such as the World Bank, AusAid, USAID and the Canadian

International Development Agency have pumped millions of dollars into India's

AIDS programme.But, Rau said, India could not afford to " import " any strategy

from these institutions as its cultural setting was entirely different from the

West. " We cannot target any communities such as gays or sex workers as it will

mean more fear and stigma. It is best to educate first and then try to teach

(AIDS awareness), " he said.The UNAIDS has predicted that if AIDS grew at the

pace it is growing now it could wipe off eight to 10 per cent of India's gross

domestic product. " It is a development problem, " Rau said. " It is time for a

collective effort. " ( AFP )

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