Re: AP: Bill for Premarital AIDS test

[Guest guest]

Doing a compulsory AIDS test is against the human rights of People

living with HIV/AIDS. This bill will only increase the stigma and

discrimination against HIV.

I hope this message is communicated to our honourable chief minister of

Andhra Pradesh, India who being a very meticulous person otherwise,

could be some how unaware of this.

Some other more ingenious method must be thought out how to get rid of

this problem.

Regards

Dr.S.Chatterjee

E-masil: <subidita@...>

[Guest guest]

Dear Forum members,

I don't understand how compulsory HIV\AIDS testing

would discriminate against people living with

HIV\AIDS ?.

Doing an anonymous (their results known only to the

parties involved) compulsory pre-marital AIDS test

would protect both the parties from infection. Any

person who is going to become intimate, should have

some knoweldge of the HIV status of his or her

partner for his or her own protection from the disease.

After saying that, I would also say that adequate

safeguard should be taken to make HIV testing

anonymous.

Sathi Dasgupta

sathi_dasgupta@...

[Guest guest]

Dear Forum,

This is in response to the posting on AP Bill for pre-maritial AIDS Test.

Yes. We have opened a contentious issue reg. premarital HIV test.

I am a practicing doctor, a HIV consultant from AP. On an average I am seeing

TWO YOUNG WOMEN PER WEEK with HIV positivity. Their only mistake is to accept a

traditional marriage. Please , those who oppose this bill, let me know

from you, concrete proposals on how you can protect a young bride from becoming

a HIV positive lady, cursed by the society tomorrow ?

Are we prepared to see more HIV positive Children in the name of human rights ?

I love PLWHA ,I treat them with sympathy compassion and care everyday- at least

50 per day.

But many a time a few persons did not heed my advice and went ahead with

marriages. I was , I am and I will be a helpless spectator in the absence of a

good law.

I only wish that the law should be couched in soft but clear phrases without

offending the feelings of PLWHA.

If both the partners accept the +ve status of either or both the partners it is

ok.

If either one needs to know the status of his /her life partner, well they

have a right to safeguard their own health !

We can not take away that right.

Freedom to PLWHA does not mean freedom to infect an unsuspecting loving life

partner. That is the bottom line.

If still readers are unconvinced I can demonstrate live tragedies that call for

this act to come into force

With compassionate feelings, without offence to any one , thats my humble

opinion.

Dr. Ravi Vadrevu., M.D.

E-mail: ravi_vadrevu@...

[Guest guest]

Dear Forum Members,

Like the situation pointed out by Dr. Ravi, in Pune

too we have seen several couples where the bride has

had no risk factor, has been monogamous but has

still got HIV infected. A study related to this

issue has been published in the journal JAMA.

There are two ethical issues involved here:

1. The right of the HIV infected person to marry

2. The right of the HIV negative partner to remain HIV negative.

One way out of this situation could be that a family

welfare package could be made available to the

partners at selected counselling centres. For this,

family life education, STD and HIV related

counselling be offered to all persons who are about

to marry. After verifying that both the partners

understand about HIV and STDs, voluntary HIV testing

as well as testing for STDs could be made available

to both the partners and then both the partners

could decide whether to get HIV tested or not. This

would require availability of post test counselling

facility as well.

In addition, genetic counselling could also be

provided about gentically transmitted haematological

disorders like thalasssemia, sickle cell anaemia at

the time of counselling and the relevant test could

be made available by asking the couple to go to

suitable centres where the testing is available.

In the long run, making the testing voluntary could

prove more beneficial and accepatable rather than

making it mandatory. This will require setting up

many Voluntary Counselling and Testing Centres

(VCTCs) in the country.

Giving HIV testing along with a general health care

package for the couple before marriage could also

help them to take more responsible decisions in

future, like for example in decisions realted to

family planning. This could help to promote healthy

families and also prevent HIV transmission.

Srikanth Tripathy

E-mail: <srikanthtripathy@...>

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends,

All these plans may work in big cities, but majority of India, is

still in villages. Women still have no choice in choosing their

marriage partners, the Dowry devil is still the major issue, forget

about people thinking of genetic counselling or asking from the

grooms family about grooms HIV status.

When we make plans, we need to think at the grass root level. At

this point education of the masses should be the main objective. ?

Till there is an awakening among each and every individual at each

and every level of the complex society of India, No amount of

packages offering Genetic counselling or HIV testing are going to

work. They look very good on Paper, but try talking and telling a

common man on a village road in the deep valleys or high mountains

of Himalayas in India, how his promiscous behaviour may have been

the cause of his wife dying of AIDS!

Education of the masses has to be the emphasis, just as for birth

control, the campaigns had to be designed in a way, that even the

most simple folks, with no schooling at all, could understand the

message, HIV awareness campaigning only would help control the

spread of this menance in INDIA, not any packages designed for the

elites in India.

Jyoti Sahni, MD

E-mail:<bjksahni@...>