World Aids Day

Today is World Aids Day and it is something we should all be very concerned about. It is one of those global scale disasters waiting to happen...along with climate change and environment degradation...and yes, like the others it threatens people in developed and underdeveloped nations..albeit the current threat of AIDS is higher in developing and less developed countries due to lower awareness and education levels, poor healthcare systems and general apathy.

A fact like there being 5 million or so AIDS victims in India is in itself scary. But what is positively jarring is that 90% of these so called infected people have no clue of their infected status. So they are just moving around, copulating like bunnies and unknowingly transmitting the infection. Really makes you think....maybe it is time to establish a police state where everyone is required to periodically take tests...and everybody's status is put on public record...I mean how do you know if your date or fiance has the infection....(I am esppecially suspicous of people in this regard, particularly after my cousin's experience of having got married, and knowing post-marriage that his wife has serious kidney problems). The situation being that there is no cure for AIDS yet, the only answer lies in prevention.

I am not saying that AIDS victims should be shunned. All compassion should be shown to these unfortunate victims, but at the same time, all steps have to be taken to prevent spread of the disease. Medical progress has been great in the past decade, and now HIV/AIDS victims can expect to live a normal life using ARVs. Compassion will be to ensure availability of ARV's to the inflicted at affordable prices.

One step the Indian government can initiate to help prevention is to make HIV testing services easily available and accessible to people. These testing centres have to maintain high quality and safety standards for their services. I mean everyday you are likely to hear something about aids, but testing services are hardly talked about. Nobody knows where to go when he/she has a doubt regarding their own or somebody else's status.

Of course, it goes without saying that we have to keep up the existing efforts in educating people and promoting awareness. This is a problem that can easily get out of hand and hence warrants everybody's attention.