The AIDS scare Whose interest does it serve?

[Guest guest]

The AIDS scare Whose interest does it serve?

Dr Indranill Basu Ray (e-mail C/o)info@...)

(Dr Indranill Basu Ray is All India Convenor: Working Group on Drug,

Pharmaceuticals and Health Care Policy)

New India Express

A battle cry whose echo deafens us is that against AIDS. The cacophony

with which the generals conduct this war is compounded with the

demoralising picture painted by protagonists of the same. No wonder

the man on the street is confused as warning bells are rung on a

hitherto unheard but `inconquerable' enemy. ``India is the epicentre

of the AIDS volcano'' - an example of the statements which are being

used by a coterie of individuals and organisations to market the idea

that India is facing an alarming crisis due to AIDS.

AIDS in India is certainly a problem, but it is not at present a

national health problem as the alarmist would have us believe. The

possibility of sitting idle is out of the question and steps are

warranted to control the disease. However, attempts to generate a fear

psychosis for gain is despicable. Adequate social education is a must:

to promote use of disposable syringes, commitment to safe sex and

avoidance of a promiscuous life style.

Equally important is the Government's role in strictly implementing

regulations that make every blood bank duty bound to test samples for

HIV and clamping down on commercial blood donors. It is such measures

that have successfully stemmed the rapid spread of the disease in

countries like the US, which harbour the largest number of AIDS cases

in the world. However, any attempt to raise mass hysteria would be

counterproductive, as the sufferers would be ostracised. This has been

the case with Leprosy and Tuberculosis. They, in turn, will be denied

medical care, thus spreading the disease.

Given the fact that AIDS spreads only through sexual contact and not

due to casual human contact, social isolation is damaging both to the

society in general and HIV infected patients in particular. It thus

becomes imperative to take a closer look at this war, to understand

the profile of its proponents, and the irrelevance of the Government's

policies on the matter.

Many foreign based companies, along with a number of NGOs, have, in

the name of social service, literally sparked an AIDS scare to make

money. Huge grants are allotted for AIDS and the lure of this money

has spawned many an anti-AIDS campaign within a short span of time.

Sustained efforts are being made to force the country to allocate

large budgets for AIDS, all the while ignoring conquerable diseases

like malaria and tuberculosis which have shown a phenomenal growth.

There is also a surreptitious attempt to make our government squander

money on the development of vaccines and drugs for a disease that is

more a health problem in the West, than in india. While one cannot

ignore the scientific credibility of such an exercise, it is vital

that we get our priorities right: taxpayers' money must be spent to

alleviate our sufferings, instead of using Indians as guinea pigs for

the white man's vaccine.

This scare about AIDS in India follows a well orchestrated move by

international agencies in conjunction with certain vested interests in

this country. The UNAIDS reported to the World AIDS conference in

Vancouver that India had three million HIV infected people. the source

of its information reportedly being the WHO. WHO, in turn, claimed

that it had got the statistics from The National AIDS Control

Organisation (NACO), the apex body for information and control of AIDS

in India. However, NACO figures speak of only 1.75 million cases!

The world media has played an equally mischievous role in trying to

portray India as the ``World Capital of AIDS''. A large number of NGOs

within the country have taken advantage of the millions of rupees

floating into the AIDS `market'. New NGOs are cropping up to share the

loot.

The worst part about the tragedy is that this country's HIV-AIDS

programme is conceived, planned and implemented under the guidance of

foreign donor agencies and their so called experts. So it goes without

saying that vested interests are taken care of in this process. There

is thus a conscious but covert attempt to push India into an AIDS debt

trap, while a few mop up thousands of dollars in the process. There

has been increased borrowing on the AIDS score. While in 95-96, India

took a World Bank loan of Rs 9.16 crores to combat AIDS, the same went

up to Rs 21.24 crores in 96-97.

With another `AIDS control' loan of over Rs 13 crores in 97-98, severe

introspection is called for to see if such borrowings are justified,

and whether they have been used properly. There is also the need to

restrict the influence of foreign elements in our decision making

processes; their advice may well be considered according to merit. The

government policy on AIDS has been distorted, conforming to the myopic

vision the country had regarding health policy in the last 50 years.

While major infectious diseases are taking a heavy toll, less is spent

on them in comparison to AIDS.

A look at the latest updated statistics proves this contention:

Malaria, with more than 20 lakh cases reported, has received only Rs

290.37 crore in 98-99. Similarly, tuberculosis is a disease that is

spreading rampantly with devastating consequences. Variable estimates

state the existence of between 300 to 450 million infected persons.

In a nation of one billion, that means one out of every two persons

may be infected, though they may not exhibit visible signs of the

disease. According to a survey, more than two million people develop

active tuberculosis and up to five lakh die of it in a year. But the

Government's expenditure on TB control has been only Rs 125 crores

(98-99). All this while AIDS, with only 6059 full blown cases and

78,000 HIV infected patients at different stages of the disease

received a bounty of 110.60 crores in the same period!

Finally, what is most obnoxious is the motive behind the AIDS panic -

to instigate an increased sale of syringes and condoms. Also

despicable is the attempt by certain NGOs and foreign development

agencies to paint India as a country of promiscuous sinners. This is

achieved by independent NGOs with dollar aid. The means include

conducting spurious surveys that `show' increased sexual activity

among unmarried women in India. Syringe and condom manufacturers have

suddenly realised that they have a `commitment' to this nation, by

enlightening its citizens on AIDS. Their large advertisements on `How

to prevent AIDS' indirectly further their own cause, by fuelling the

scare.

The Government's failure to keep an eye on the activities of spurious

NGOs is forcing the nation to pay a heavy toll, both money and image

wise. There is an urgent need to have a regulatory body to control the

work of NGOs in India. Foreign agencies pump in thousands of dollars

into NGOs, which fail to conform to the behaviour expected of them.

The absence of a district observational body, and a Government

department responsible to keep a check, has resulted in misuse or

transfer of funds for activities.

Similarly, thousands of Indian NGOs have cropped up in the AIDS

sector, some of which are totally corrupt institutions. A recent study

on the responses of NGOs to HIV and AIDS in India published by the

British Council and UNDP, endorses this view; it showed that most NGOs

working in the AIDS sector have little or no direct contact with

people suffering from HIV or AIDS.

It is indeed tragic but true that while these NGOs gobble up thousands

of rupees of donated money, and their promoters get rich overnight,

the country is continuously bled of its resources.

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