Wrong Initiative to control AIDS in Goa

[Guest guest]

Wrong Initiative to control AIDS - Goa

by P Venugopalan Nair

Despite opposition from people living with HIV and activists working with HIV +

persons, the state government has decided to go ahead with its proposed plan to

make HIV/AIDS testing mandatory before marriage

Sarita knew nothing about HIV / AIDS until her husband tested positive. A few

months later, she and her elder daughter also tested positive. This was four

years ago. Her husband died in 2002.

Life has taught her many bitter lessons: It has taught her that women cannot

negotiate safe sex due to their disadvantaged position in society as well as due

to lack of personal power. “Women in fact are more at risk of getting infected

from their partner because of their vulnerability”, she says.

Yet, she doesn’t support the Goa government’s decision to make HIV / AIDS

testing mandatory before marriage. Sarita (name changed) believes that awareness

and counselling – not mandatory pre-marital testing – are the need of the hour.

The government needs to impart information, educate people and counsel women

about HIV when they are adolescents, thereby helping them to protect themselves

from getting infected.

Despite opposition from people living with HIV and activists working with HIV +

persons, the state government has decided to go ahead with its proposed plan to

make HIV/AIDS testing mandatory before marriage. Health Minister Dayanand

Narvekar maintains that the decision has been taken in the interest of the

people. If passed in the state legislature, Goa will be the first state in the

country to implement this law.

The National AIDS Control organisation’s (NACO) policy on testing is very clear.

It encourages voluntary testing after counselling as the appropriate public

health strategy in dealing with HIV/AIDS. Dr Denis Broun, Country Director,

UNAIDS (United Nations AIDS programme) maintains, “You can curb the disease only

by spreading information, counselling and convincing families to go in for HIV

testing before marriage. The government shouldn’t interfere and introduce

mandatory testing before marriage.”

Even the Roman Catholic Church in Goa has opposed the move. Besides issuing a

public statement opposing the proposed law, it has sent letters to members of

the legislative assembly and ministers dissuading them from supporting a

legislation that would affect human freedom and dignity. “Any legislation in

this regard, apparently for the so-called well-being or for the utility of any

single individual citizen or citizens in general, must be just, acceptable and

respectable,” said Fr Socorro Mendes, Director, Family Services Centre,

Archdiocese of Goa.

However, the state health authorities argue that HIV affects people primarily

when they are most productive and leads to premature death, thereby severely

affecting the socio-economic structure of whole families and communities. “A

majority of women infected with HIV/AIDS in Goa are in the age group of 15 to

35”, said an official from the health department, on condition of anonymity.

Officials at the Goa State AIDS Control Society (GSACS) are tight-lipped about

the issue as they find themselves sandwiched between the state government policy

and that of NACO on HIV/AIDS.

Meanwhile, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working with people living with

HIV believe that such a proposal will have a harmful impact on the state’

efforts to contain HIV/AIDS as it is based neither on sound public health policy

nor on human rights principals. “It is going to be a disaster in the end. In

Goa, there is no clinching evidence to suggest that a woman is infected during

marriage. In fact, the 2005 Sentinel Survey for Goa shows that none were

infected in the antenatal setting, a marker for mainstream women,” said Anand

Grover, Director, Lawyers Collective HIV/AIDS Unit.

Activists say that they are opposed to the State Government’s decision because

it may create an alarm and drive the disease underground and give the state a

false sense of security that the infection is being effectively prevented from

spreading. They also fear that this would also lead to the issuance of false

certificates prior to marriage, thereby having a negative impact on the entire

public health system. Besides, the strategy also does not take into account a

large number of young people having sex at the pre-marital stage or

post-marriage stages, which can lead to the infection, they added.

Dr Eugene D’Silva a gynaecologist said that pre-marital testing does not prevent

persons from getting infected after marriage. “What about people who are tested

during the window period? During the window period even if a person is infected,

they would be tested negative, as the antibodies are not developed”, he noted.

“The plan to introduce mandatory pre-marital HIV testing is not based on any

scientific study. Any programme for prevention or intervention has to be based

on concrete scientific studies so that it helps contain the disease. HIV

mandatory testing has only proved to be counter-productive,” said Beethoven

Fonseca, who works with Positive People, an NGO.

Interestingly, pre-marital testing is not something new. It has been tried at

other places and failed. The American Civil Liberties Union Report of March 1998

reported that mandatory pre-marital HIV testing was a failure. It stated that

more than 30 states in the USA considered pre-marital HIV testing. However, all

the states except for Illinois and Louisiana rejected the idea. Illinois and

Louisiana enacted and enforced mandatory pre-marital testing, but subsequently

repealed them.

Can the Goa government hope to succeed where others have failed? (WFS)

Sunday, March 18, 2007. Source : The Navhind Times (Panorama)

__________________

Jaffer Inamdar

Positive Lives Foundation “PLF-GOA”

Email : plfgoa@... / plf@...