India: Silence means death
Express India, April 27, 2005.
WHEN it comes to AIDS, silence means death,'' UN General-Secretary Kofi Annan told HIV/AIDS patients at a meeting today. Annan urged them to declare that they are HIV-positive and speak about the disease, to reduce the stigma associated with it.
While he insisted that prevention and treatment is key, he also stressed the need to get rid of the stigma. ''Stigma and discrimination are rampant and hamper resistance to AIDS,'' he said.
The Secretary-General participated in a round-table discussion — Positive Voices Against HIV/AIDS — held at the UN headquarters in Lodhi Estate. The participants included six representatives of the Indian Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (INP+), representatives of NGOs, Union Health Minister Dr Anbumani Ramadoss, NACO director general S.Y. Qureshi and Laxmi Bai, secretary of Dai Welfare Society.
''India stands a great chance and they don't want to go the Africa way,'' Annan said. His main concern seemed to be the discrimination faced by people living with HIV/AIDS.
His wife, Nane Annan, applauded the HIV-positive people who chose to speak out. ''I want to say you are courageous to come out in spite of discrimination. Thank you for contributing so much to society by speaking,'' she said.
Besides raising issues like lack of healthcare and nutrition, participants demanded legislation to prevent discrimination. ''When we declare our HIV status we should be looked at as role models for change. We can show people how to survive...we can do this only when our rights are in place,'' said INP+ member C.D. Costa.
''We have drafted a legislation and by the middle of the year we will have an Act,'' Ramadoss said.
''We have to reach out to young people. The age between 10 to 18 is crucial. There has to be an intersectoral response to reach the unreachable,'' said Dr Sunil Mehta, executive director of MAMTA Health Institute for Mother and Child.
''In India, 29 per cent of those affected with HIV/AIDS are women. Women are the new face of HIV. I am worried about the abandonment of the widows,'' Annan said.
Source: SAATHI
Online at: http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=126621
WHEN it comes to AIDS, silence means death,'' UN General-Secretary Kofi Annan told HIV/AIDS patients at a meeting today. Annan urged them to declare that they are HIV-positive and speak about the disease, to reduce the stigma associated with it.
While he insisted that prevention and treatment is key, he also stressed the need to get rid of the stigma. ''Stigma and discrimination are rampant and hamper resistance to AIDS,'' he said.
The Secretary-General participated in a round-table discussion — Positive Voices Against HIV/AIDS — held at the UN headquarters in Lodhi Estate. The participants included six representatives of the Indian Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (INP+), representatives of NGOs, Union Health Minister Dr Anbumani Ramadoss, NACO director general S.Y. Qureshi and Laxmi Bai, secretary of Dai Welfare Society.
''India stands a great chance and they don't want to go the Africa way,'' Annan said. His main concern seemed to be the discrimination faced by people living with HIV/AIDS.
His wife, Nane Annan, applauded the HIV-positive people who chose to speak out. ''I want to say you are courageous to come out in spite of discrimination. Thank you for contributing so much to society by speaking,'' she said.
Besides raising issues like lack of healthcare and nutrition, participants demanded legislation to prevent discrimination. ''When we declare our HIV status we should be looked at as role models for change. We can show people how to survive...we can do this only when our rights are in place,'' said INP+ member C.D. Costa.
''We have drafted a legislation and by the middle of the year we will have an Act,'' Ramadoss said.
''We have to reach out to young people. The age between 10 to 18 is crucial. There has to be an intersectoral response to reach the unreachable,'' said Dr Sunil Mehta, executive director of MAMTA Health Institute for Mother and Child.
''In India, 29 per cent of those affected with HIV/AIDS are women. Women are the new face of HIV. I am worried about the abandonment of the widows,'' Annan said.
Source: SAATHI
Online at: http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=126621
posted by AIDS-Care-Watch at 10:54 pm
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