Re: Kolkotta: 50% increase in mother-to-child infections.

[Guest guest]

Hello to the list readers especially the Bishop and his staff,

In this article I saw that most new infections are occurring in the age

group of 20 - 35. Since more than half of India's 1.2 billion population is

now under the age of 20 it is to be expected that this age group must become

the highest risk.

No where did I see any reference to improved risk management programs

associated with sexual health and safety. We know enough about AIDS now to

know how to avoid infection and how to manage sexual safety but no where in

this article was the mention such information.

Of course we hear yet again that some of the country's blood is still a

risk.

Why is that so when international treatment protocols for stored

transfusable blood products have a treatment process to make them safe for

all as from 1990?

Then the article ends with another unfortunate quote that says how fatal the

disease is.

We have to stop talking about mother to child transmission as unavoidable.

No mothers should be passing on their infection to their babies. We know how

to stop that. Sero discordant couples need not infect their negative

partners when planning a family. And above all we have to start seeing AIDS

as a chronic manageable infection rather than a fatal disease if we want

people to be less fearful about it and more prone to knowing and preserving

their immune function.

Just some prompting and I hope that this information is available to the

good Bishop as he plans for a care program for infection patients.

Geoffrey

E-mail: <gheaviside@...>

[Guest guest]

Dear FORUM,

I agree with Mr. Heaviside, that by now blood transmission and MTCT should have

been addressed. However, I somewhat disagree with this statement:

" ...we have to start seeing AIDS as a chronic manageable infection rather than a

fatal disease if we want people to be less fearful about it and more prone to

knowing and preserving their immune function. "

When coupled with complete and accurate information that is accessible to all,

this would be a good method of reducing stigma against PLWHA. However, as the

majority of people in the world do not have correct information about HIV/AIDS,

if people begin to think of it as a " chronic manageable infection " rather than a

fatal disease, this attitude may lead to risk behavior.

This may sound ridiculous at first, but take the US for example. After the media

furor on AIDS died down after 1994 or so, people stopped talking and thinking

about AIDS. They thought you could take some pills and be fine. Then infection

rates began to rise again, not surprisingly. Especially among heterosexuals, and

especially among people without access to information, education and services.

(for example, african american women make up 74% of

all US women infected).

We do not want to see the same happen in India. Before HIV/AIDS can be thought

of as a " chronic manageable infection " we have a lot of work to do, to make sure

that every single Indian knows how it is transmitted, what it is and is not, and

what to do about it. We must make sure Indians *can* do something about it if

infected. Until then it will remain a fatal disease. The fear of AIDS can lead

to stigma and discrimination, but it can also impel people

toward safer sex practices. That is why there is such a need for accurate

information.

There is no room for laziness about safe sex behavior and we must not encourage

such attitudes prematurely- before treatment and prevention services are widely

available.

Thank you,

Joya Banerjee

E-mail: <jb2026@...>