Cops cope with HIV

[Guest guest]

Cops cope with HIV

MALATHY IYER

TIMES NEWS NETWORK [sUNDAY, JULY 10, 2005 11:05:11 PM]

In Punjab, policemen are being put through a comprehensive medical

examination after seven cops in Ferozepur tested positive for HIV

recently. The objective: to provide mental succour and financial

support for the afflicted personnel.

In Mumbai, HIV-positive cops may soon get expensive drugs free from

the force. This follows another pro-active step taken less than 12

months ago when the force accepted an International Labour

Organisation charter to become a HIV/AIDS-friendly workforce with

zero discrimination.

In Pune, afflicted policemen no longer able to undertake strenuous

beat work are assigned to the desk work supervising pollution under

control-testing units.

The tough-as-nails khakhi force does seem to acquiring a `sensitive'

dimension, courtesy the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The red-ribbon philosophy

of reaching out to afflicted persons seems to be gaining acceptance

as awareness meetings and counselling sessions begin featuring in a

cop's diary.

But the dark side of all this exemplary response is what brought it

about in the first place. Is it proof of the suspicion that the

police now qualifies as a highrisk-behaviour group? Has the epidemic

seriously penetrated the force?

The answer depends on who is being questioned. An activist from

Hyderabad nods an emphatic yes. " Policemen should be considered as

part of a high-risk group along with commercial sex-workers, migrant

workers and truckers, " he says.

But policemen disagree. " The force is not a high-risk group, " says

joint commissioner (administration) Subhash Awate. The incidence of

AIDS/HIV wouldn't be more than it was in the normal population, he

asserted. He has a supporter in Mumbai District AIDS Control Society

chief Nirupa Borges, who categorically states that policemen do not

fall into this " hazardous " category.

But her counterpart in Bihar, Uday Kumar Ujjwala of BACS, has reason

to believe that policemen are more at risk. " Incidence of sexually-

transmitted diseases is high among them, " he says, explaining that

persons with STD have a 10% higher risk of HIV-AIDS because of the

lesions that facilitate the virus' entry.

A survey done by BSACS, among enunchs living in Patna, recently

revealed that they numbered policemen among their regular

clients. " We definitely consider the police force to be a high-risk

group in the light of these findings, " says Ujjwala.

Non-governmental organisation Sakhi that has worked with commercial

sex-workers in Patna, too, has found that cops are regular

visitors. " The sex-workers' clients from the police include men from

the top to the bottom, " claims a Sakhi activist.

The Andhra Pradesh AIDS Control Society consultants who interact

with the police say the prevalence is greater among personnel of the

AP Special Police and those who are on night-patrolling. According

to Indian Labour Organisation official S M Afsar, young recruits

posted away from home and with easy access to paid sex are more

vulnerable to the disease.

In conservative Pune, a fresh case of AIDS or HIV-positive is

registered every four months at the Police Hospital situated in the

headquarters.

Of course, no comprehensive study has been carried out across the

country to study the incidence or prevalence of AIDS\HIV among

policemen. Joint commissioner Awate of the Mumbai Police pooh-poohs

claims that 185 policemen in his 39,000-strong force are HIV-

positive. And officials in Bangalore point out that the exact

numbers are not available as the identity of the person affected by

HIV is kept confidential unless the victim volunteers or the matter

needs to be taken up legally.

At a time when there is a raging debate over the number of AIDS/HIV

persons in the country, it is not surprising that there isn't a

number one can put to the policemen with AIDS. This is all the more

reason, feels social worker Preeti Patkar in Mumbai, that the " high-

risk " tag should be avoided for policemen. " I wonder if this is true

numerically. Moreover, adding such tags only worsens matters like in

the case with commerical sex-workers. " She adds that there is a need

to sensitise various groups - " be they policemen or high-paid

executives " - about HIV and AIDS.

Says N Borges of the Mumbai District AIDS Control Society: " There is

definitely a need to sensitise people about the disease but not

because of their so-called sexual behaviour. They often come in

contact with blood in cases of accident or assault and they need to

be aware about the pitfalls. "

(Inputs by Abhay Mohan Jha/Patna, Mridula Chundur/Hyderabad, Gitesh

Shelke/Pune and Paawana Poonacha/Bangalore)

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