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| Below are the News Articles / Stories pertaining to the Social Cause 'HIV / AIDS'. To see our Resourse Section on 'HIV / AIDS', please click here. |
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K'taka village makes pre-nuptial HIV test must Seethalakshmi S PM Budni (Bagalkot): The Karnataka government may be mulling over making pre-marital HIV test mandatory, but a remote village in Bagalkot district has already shown the way in tackling the deadly disease. The 4,000-odd villagers have made it compulsory for every boy and girl to undergo an HIV test before they tie the knot. And it was successive deaths that made them sit up. The remote village, 80 km from Bagalkot, has lost 15 people, including four children, to AIDS during the last five years. "Our girls were married off to men from Mumbai, Kolhapur, and Goa who had contracted the virus. The girls would come back as widows afflicted with HIV. Similarly girls from other villages were spreading the virus to our boys. So, we decided to make the test mandatory. The panchayat has already passed a resolution,'' Srikanth Kolur, a panchayat member, said. What is heartening is that despite total lack of development, this village has taken a positive step. Forget hospitals, the village does not have even a primary health centre; there are no roads or drainages and no high school. Majority of the 600 families live in mud houses. Yet, there is a silent revolution to tackle the deadliest disease. And the devadasis in the village are in the forefront of the revolution. On any given day, the 40 somethings clad in the traditional Ilkal sarees go around the village with their musical instruments and sing to create awareness on AIDS. The nearest hospital for the villagers is 10 km away. But that has not deterred them from constituting a village health committee, which not only creates awareness about HIV/AIDS but conducts various programmes on the importance of nutrition, hygiene. "When there was a chikangunya outbreak, we go around the village and talk to people about the disease. The committee is closely monitoring the 35 HIV+ people who are living in the village,'' said Adveppa Gurupadappa Reddyaratti, the village postman, who is also member of the health committee. But it is the devadasi women, who are showing the way and ensuring that the future generations do not fall prey to the practice of sacrificing girls. "I was dedicated as a devadasi at the age of nine. What happened after that is hell. I do not want any girl in this village to go through what I underwent. I am a community worker now fighting against HIV and the devadasi system,'' said Kalavathy, who prevented 12 girls in the village from being dedicated. True revolution, indeed. HIV+ cop fights AP govt prejudice YSR Regime Moves SC Against HC Order Allowing Constable To Be Promoted As SI Dhananjay Mahapatra | TNN New Delhi: An HIV positive constable, after fighting valiantly against social ostracisation, ended up as a victim of state-sponsored discrimination as the Andhra Pradesh government denied him promotion to the rank of sub-inspector, solely on the ground that he carried the virus. Stung by an Andhra high court order granting promotion to him while quashing a Police Manual order denying employment to HIV positive persons, the Y S Reddy government has filed an appeal in the supreme court seeking to retain the discriminatory provision in the rule book. The single-point question raised before a bench comprising Justices Arijit Pasayat and S H Kapadia by the state reads: "Whether a person found HIV positive could be considered for appointment as sub-inspector of police in contravention of recruitment rules.'' Realising the importance of the question for lakhs of government employees in each state, the bench issued notice to Union government and sought assistance of solicitor general G E Vahanvati in the matter. The YSR government's stand on the issue is not only in conflict with the supreme court's 2003 ruling in Mr X vs Hospital Z, but is also against the non-discrimination policy consistently advocated by the Centre, which is in the early stages of preparations for the third phase of National AIDS Control Programme (NACP-III) aiming to achieve "zero-level of new infections by 2007''. TOI had on July 21, 2006, published a survey conducted by National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) startling everyone with statistics that nearly 30% of HIV affected employees in India have been denied promotion. In response to this article, minister of state for health P Lakshmi told the Lok Sabha on August 2, 2006, that "government supports non-discrimination of HIV positive people at workplace. The policy laid down is that no mandatory HIV testing should be imposed as a pre-condition for providing employment except in the armed forces or for providing health care facilities during employment''. She added: "National Aids Control Organisation has issued guidelines to all state AIDS Control Societies, mostly headed by senior bureaucrats, on work place policy principles asking them to collaborate with employers, trade unions and different government departments in this regard.'' In contrast, Maharashtra government this month prepared a draft policy envisaging non-discrimination at work place and free medical assistance for its employees infected with HIV. The constable on being denied promotion as sub-inspector moved the AP Administrative Tribunal stating that though he cleared the tests and was provisionally selected for the post, he was denied the same only because he tested positive for HIV. ' The tribunal rejected his claim going by the AP Revised Police Manual prohibiting entry of HIV positive persons into government service. He appealed against this order before HC, which struck down the AP Police Manual provision as violative of Articles 14 and 16 (right to equality and protection against discrimination) and ruled in his favour. URL - http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JTS8yMDA3LzAxLzMwI0FyMDEyMDI=&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-skin-custom |
| Also see : HIV / AIDS, Public Health, Public Health : News Articles, Dementia & Alzheimer's |
