Fw:Mandatory HIV Test for Truck Drivers

[Guest guest]

Dear Forum Members,

The Health Ministry's announcement of mandatory testing of Truck Drivers is

ridiculous and must be condemned equivocally, as it perpetuates stigma and

ostracism of particular group of people.

Any kind of mandating should start from self, meaning it should start from

the Ministry and politicians themselves.

With our professional experience, we can authoratively tell that politicians are

also in high (if not higher) risk behaviour category vis-a-vis HIV/AIDS

and STDs. Medical ethics doesn't permit doctors to publicly identify the

individuals with HIV/AIDS, but we do deal with politicians and their

relations who come to us for HIV management; most of whom are infected

through high-risk behaviours.

In a similar incident, after a study of some police personnel testing HIV

positive became public in 1995, the then Maharashtra Chief Minister

announced that the government will mandatory test all police constabulary

for HIV. PHO countered that mandate with an argument, why start from bottom,

start from top, meaning start right from Home Minister (incidentally the CM

was holding charge of Home Ministry) and then go step by step to reach

constabulary. Others supported the PHO public statement. No further action

was seen from the government and the mandate of mandatory testing of police

constables got silently dropped.

Stigmatising a particular community has far-reaching consequences. In

Maharashtra state, it is difficult to get brides for those who are 'drivers'

in arranged marriages, for fear of HIV/AIDS, as 'drivers' community has been

put in high risk behaviour category by our government.

In Chhochi village of Haryana, in 1997 a trucker's home was put on fire and

the trucker was forced to commit suicide when he was ridiculed after his HIV

positive report got publicised. His wife and family were shunned and

outcast. Subsequently the entire Chhochi village was declared AIDS-affected,

as people feared that the only doctor from that village used syringes and

needles contaminated with the driver's blood for others in the village. The

government initiated mandatory testing of the entire village. Ironically,

later it was found that the driver and his wife's blood was HIV negative and

that the driver was only 'false-positive' on Tridot test, a spot test for

HIV.

It is understandable that it hurts when the home if affected - in this case,

our Union Health Minister Dr. C.P.Thakur is from Bihar and his home state

getting into problem vis-a-vis HIV spread, lead him review and revamp the

Health policy.

However, such extreme steps will be counter-productive. Strangely enough,

last year the health minister stated that HIV is not as widely spread as

has beed projected by UNAIDS and some NGOs. He was quoted as saying, HIV

prevalence in his home constituency was less than 0.1%, among

nearly 1000 tests done in pregnant women there, ignoring PHO signals that

several people from Bihar are treated in Mumbai for HIV related illnesses.

PHO hopes that wiser counsel will prevail and the ministry withdraws its

plan for mandatory testing of Truck Drivers and for that matter, any such

groups. What is required today is massive public education (that could be

mandatory), with back up of prevention tools and facility for counselling,

testing and managing those at risk of HIV/STDs and with infection.

Dr.I.S.Gilada

Secretary General

Peoples Health Organisation (India)

ihoaids@...

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