Re:HIV Prevention and Treatment Needs of MSM Community

[Guest guest]

Again more pearls of wisdom from the network of informed indian citizens who

are probably sitting close to the coal face and becoming very much more

aware of how we demystify this pandemic and empower people everywhere with

matter-of-fact accurate information. Thanks Pawan.

Just recently I was in Ahmedabad sitting in a session on grief loss and

death for caring professionals in Gujarat AIDS Council which was being

delivered in English and concurently translated into local languages. As

arduous as this process was it worked well even if the sessions lasted more

days.

At one point in the proceedings when I wasn't required to be present I went

off looking for the ever-present but often invisible cyber cafe and walked

considerable distance following signals and verbal messages to " go straight "

and a finger pointing in one direction. None of these routes were in fact

straight at all, but I was passing a tea station in the vicinity of the

Ahmedabad Town Planning Department where, due to a planning failure at some

point the workers there were at work but had no electricity for 20 days and

the tea breaks were obviously extensive.

I was encouraged to join the group and explain where I was from and why I

was in India and very soon a full scale translated plenary session was

happening with town planners across two ages spectrums and a sprinking of

rickshaw auto drivers and tea boys, and with increasing sales of Cha.

After I said who I was a where I was from and got over the inevitable

discussion about cricket, I explained what I was doing in India. We soon

started the discussion about how you could and couldn't catch the virus and

I asked if there was anyone there who had a friend or a relative that was

+ve and no one volunteered that they did.

I had already discovered that in Gujarat all known HIV +ve patients in

treatment were all being cared for at home in their families which was a

surprise because that pattern is not evident elsewhere in India.

The older generation of town planners were adamant that it wasn't a problem

for India because we all get married and although we have sex we only have

it with our wives and we encourage our kids to remain celebate until they

marry.

The conversation then moved on the possibility that the India of old might

have changed somewhat. We spoke of the fact that some of us older folk had

grandparents who for them the distance between puberty and marriage was

maybe 2 or 3 yrs whereas nowadays the time between puberty and marriage can

be almost 20 yrs if singles are attending university and living at home and

surely this should mean that attitudes to sex might have to be modified and

that acknowledgement should be given to the fact that meaningful

relationships that might include sex might actually happen in the

intervening years.

It was here interestingly enough that the two age groups

of planners was apparent where the younger ones were agreeing with my

arguments and the older ones were saying it is not like that in India.

Anyone with access to chat rooms on the internet in any country in the world

would have to be blind freddy not to realise that relationships involving

sexual liaisons, outside of wedlock is a regular and recurring practice

across all levels of society and at all ages, and no one can convince me

that all sexual practice is heterosexist in India. Domestic privacy is not

always opportune in much of India apart from renting hotel rooms so

behaviours are often furtive and spontaneous.

Incredible levels of ignorance still exist. Some age groups and gender

specific groups have difficulty accessing STI prevention devices

anonymously. Great disbelief that a female condom was a reality was

expressed by the men in Ahmedabad. And that a woman might express the need

for protection and require a man to use such protection was treated with

mild amusement.

Sexually transmitted blood born viruses will not be controlled until the

mechanics of protection are well understood by everyone and the use of same

becomes habitual in the same way that in some parts of India when we ride a

motor cycle we unquestioningly wear a helmet or when we get into our car

most times we will fasten our seat belt.

So mass media campaigns that are factual and not inclined to demonise some

sectors of society, or instil fear, need to be created and delivered in much

the way that was so well outlined in Pawan's paper.

Geoffrey

E-mail: <gheaviside@...>

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