AIDS as an agent of reform?

[Guest guest]

AIDS as an agent of reform?

Marshall Kilduff

New Delhi -- AIDS COULD be a good thing for India. That's one

message sent by health planners and clinic workers watching the

epidemic's impact on this country's politics, economy and social

customs. As revolutionary as Mohandas K. Gandhi's insurrection

against British rule, AIDS has the potential to rework India even as

it infects millions.

The notion of AIDS as a change agent isn't a flip remark. For India,

and other countries slowly waking to the disease, the stakes are

major. In India, there are 5 million infected with the virus that

causes AIDS. Only South Africa has more cases.

This devastation has brought on a frank brand of reverse thinking.

The epidemic is so dire, India has to try something brand new. The

threat should yank social thinking and institutions forward in ways

that other changes such as politics, the Internet, religious fervor

or popular culture could only dream about.

Is it callous to think that AIDS can produce positive changes? To

several Indians, it's the only way.

Consider a list of nearly taboo subjects that go along with any

serious effort to curb AIDS: women's rights, domestic violence, sex

education, political leadership and government responsiveness. " This

epidemic allows us to talk about all these things. It's an

opportunity we never had before,'' said Dr. Revathi Narayanan, a

United Nations AIDS planner.

With AIDS creeping into Indian society from all sides, what can be

done? This is where the revolution begins.

First the disease needs to be understood. In a tiny schoolroom in

Mombai, former street children are taught the basics: AIDS comes

from drug use, tainted blood and failure to use a condom. Just as

important, the young audience is taught about AIDS myths: You don't

get it from a handshake, a hug or a shared glass of water. It's

tentative and dumbed-down, but it's a start in a country skittish

about sex ed.

Next comes prevention. Handing out condoms is one heavily promoted

concept because it's cheap and simple-sounding. Condoms work fine

for men who patronize prostitutes. But many males don't like using

them, contract AIDS during paid-for sex, and then return home to

infect wives.

In India, this infection-spreading dynamic is enormous. The country

has a huge military and migrant population of truckers, railway

workers and factory hands who patronize brothels or street

prostitutes during months away from home.

Here comes the challenge. Wives need the social support to ask

husbands to drop outside partners or use a condom at home. Right

now, a questioning wife risks a beating or divorce. A simple condom

becomes a powerful symbol of male responsibility and women's rights.

Government can't escape the blame either. Former President

Reagan famously looked away from the brewing AIDS scourge in the

1980s. This failure can't be repeated in even bigger countries such

as India and China.

What worked in the United States with its population of gays under

siege from AIDS can't be transplanted overseas. The anti-AIDS

message, safeguards and target audience need to be tailored for

maximum impact. Said U.N. official Dr. Maxine Olson, " What India

needs is a Magic ,'' a national celebrity who admits carrying

the AIDS virus. India's pop culture hasn't produced such a figure.

So far the fresh thinking comes from outside Indian government. For

example, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has launched a five-

year, $200 million effort targeting truck drivers and roadside

prostitutes on the country's heavily used highways. But the work

taps private health groups and gas-station chains, not the country's

notoriously obstructive bureaucrats.

A terrorist couldn't design a more dangerous challenge than AIDS.

Nearly every social institution is under assault, from the central

government to the intimacy of husband and wife. But if a country

like India can find a response, it will be a huge victory over AIDS

and the injustices that allowed it to spread.

Marshall Kilduff is a Chronicle editorial writer. E-mail him at

mkilduff@...

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