Prevention of HIV can't be achieved in a social vacuum

[Guest guest]

Dear FORUM,

This refer to Mr. Raja 's posting Re: Protest against arrests under

Section 377 of the indian penal code

Mr. don't have to apologise about expressing his views. But please think

- if you don't remove stigma against homosexuality, will you be able to stop

HIV? I think 20 years into the epidemic, we really have to realise fast that

condoms in themselves cannot stop HIV. Enabling people to put them on does stop

HIV. And that won't happen till you criminalize homosexuality and therefore

prevent information dissemination on the fact that male to male sex can spread

HIV.

In all the debate around sex work and homosexuality, we often tend to mix up

legalizing and decriminalising. There may be a thin line of difference, but it

is an important difference. The Indian LGBT movement is not asking for something

like murder or robbery to be legalized. It is only asking for something that is

as good or as bad as heterosexuality to be decriminalized.

Also, there is no question of fighting for homosexuality. If somebody doesn't

have same sex attraction or desires, he or she can't be forced to have such an

attraction. But that does not give others the right to hold a prejudice against

people who have a homosexual orientation or practise male to male sex with

mutual consent.

Regards

Pawan Dhall

SAATHII

E-mail: <pawan30@...>

[Guest guest]

Dear FORUM,

I agree with Pawan’s comment that condoms alone cannot reduce the progress of

the HIV pandemic. But even this focuses on individual behaviour alone and leaves

out macro economic factors that are known to play a big role in the

proliferation of various diseases. Individual behaviour alone cannot possibly

account for the enormous variation in HIV prevalence between population groups,

countries and regions and this unexplained remaining variation has been

neglected by the international AIDS community.

Poor nutrition, hygiene and related factors lead to biological vulnerability

to various infections including HIV due to seriously deficient immune systems

and this has been ignored as a determinant of the high levels of infection in

certain populations. This invariably happens to marginalized groups, in

particular the economically marginalized. Also this exclusive focus on

individual behaviour adds to stigma and discrimination of PLWHA since anyone who

is positive is seen to have got the infection as a result of one’s individual

behaviour.

A sustainable and meaningful response to AIDS is simultaneously a sustainable

and meaningful response to all the diseases of poverty. And this response has to

take into account macroeconomic factors that affect the health of all people.

Unless this happens we will continue to build our strategies in a vacuum

Sunil

Peoples Health Movement

E-mail: sunilcssr@...