Gere Talks AIDS With Bombay Prostitutes

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Posted on Tue, Dec. 02, 2003

Gere Talks AIDS With Bombay Prostitutes

RAMOLA TALWAR BADAM

Associated Press

BOMBAY, India - Hollywood actor Gere talked to prostitutes and

their clients inside dingy Bombay brothels Tuesday in a crowded red-

light district to find out what they knew about HIV/AIDS.

" I have so many friends who are (HIV) positive...There's no way you

should leave sick people to die, " Gere told The Associated Press a day

after he began a campaign to unite Bollywood movie stars, business

leaders and government officials to fight the spread of AIDS in a country

with the world's second-largest number of HIV-infected people.

" You've got to do everything you can to take care of sick people and also

spend all your energy on prevention, " he said.

At least 4 million Indians are infected with the disease, according to

government statistics that don't count child victims. Aid workers

estimate at least 50 percent of some 10,000 sex workers who work in

Kamathipura area in downtown Bombay are HIV-positive.

The Indian media has reported several cases of HIV patients denied

treatment in hospitals and instances of HIV-infected women and

children thrown out of their homes due to the stigma linked to the

disease.

A U.S. government report last year predicted the number of Indians

with AIDS, including children and adults, could jump to 20-25 million by

2010 - a projection the Indian government rejects.

Bending to enter cramped brothels where a fraying bedsheet hung on a

string is all that separates one sex worker's bed from another, Gere

asked one prostitute if her clients agreed to safe sex.

" If we think they have some disease like itching we insist they wear a

condom and take less money, otherwise they don't all agree to wear

condoms, " said Jyoti, 35, identified with only one name.

Many prostitutes said they did not understand what HIV/AIDS meant and

were more concerned about sexually transmitted diseases. They

mistook Gere for an American doctor - some asked him in Hindi if he

would examine them.

But their clients, pimps and boyfriends - sprawled across beds and

squatting in filthy corridors - recognized Gere as a " Hollywood actor. "

Standing in a room packed with six beds, under which prostitutes stack

their clothes, a cooking stove, aluminum utensils and plastic buckets,

Gere watched aid workers play a board game with sex workers to show

the thousands of rupees they would spend on medical care if they

turned HIV-positive compared to the rupee one (two U.S. cents) cost of

a condom.

Flicking through a booklet of colorful drawings used to show prostitutes

how they could get infected, Gere said, " It's unbelievable that all this is

still new information to many of them. To get through to them simple

ideas about health is not an easy process. "

On World Aids Day Monday, the Indian government announced plans to

spend $44 million to provide free anti-retroviral drugs to 100,000 AIDS

patients.

But aid workers such as Shilpa Merchant, the Indian national AIDS co-

ordinator of PSI (Population Services International) headquartered in

Washington, said while prevention was essential, care and support for

HIV patients was imperative.

" The sick need places like day-care clinics and hospices where they are

welcome to help deal with the infection, " Merchant told Gere during his

two-hour visit to the red-light district.

The organization attempts to reach 10,000 prostitutes and 100,000

clients a month through health clinics and street plays on AIDS

awareness.

Gere, a vocal campaigner against HIV/AIDS in the region for several

years, is in the process of identifying projects that need more funds. He

is also preparing an AIDS awareness campaign called " The Heroes

Project " with the country's celebrities who he believes can carry the

message of prevention and care to the average Indian.

" Obviously there is a huge problem, but there is light at the end of the

tunnel when you see so many dedicated (aid) workers, " said Gere, who

also funds various causes in this South Asian country through his

charity, the Gere Foundation India Trust.

(rtb/ng)

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