SHREYA KEDIA
Two years after its introduction in the Rajya Sabha in February 2014, the HIV and AIDS (Prevention and Control) Bill, 2014, moved a step closer towards its implementation when the proposed amendments to the Bill were cleared by the Union Cabinet on October 6.
At the very outset, the Bill seeks to safeguard the rights of HIV patients, makes discrimination against them a punishable offence and seeks to provide a legal framework for them by setting up a redressal mechanism so that they can lodge complaints. For provision of better healthcare facilities, the Bill prohibits denial of services to HIV patients.
As the figures show, from being considered to be a death sentence a few decades ago, HIV epidemic has substantially been addressed. But there’s a long way to change the trajectory of this epidemic to reach the global goal of ending this virus completely by 2030. The Bill, when passed in the Winter Session of Parliament next month, will fast-track this Sustainable Development Goal.
Critically, the Bill achieves two things. First, it makes it mandatory for both Union and State Governments, to provide Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART) to the patients but with a clause. Non-availability of ART kits, shortage of ART treatment centres have been some of the major reasons why many patients have either lost their battle with the disease or have been put at the risk of developing drug resistance to the treatment. In a shocking case, a five-year-old girl from Trichy, who was born HIV positive, was forced to travel to Chennai to receive treatment due to an acute shortage of the drug in her hometown. Eventually, her treatment could not be completed as the Chennai centre too did not have the drug kits.
Although activists have expressed satisfaction with the Bill, they have pointed out that, while the Government made it compulsory to provide ART treatment, it minced words when it said that the treatment must be made available “as far as possible”. While the cost of this therapy is the cheapest in the world, almost free in some places, what is lacking here is availability of this life-saving medicine, which the proposed Bill fails to address.
According to a 2014 report by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, India has the third highest population of people contracted with this disease and only 36 per of them receive ART treatment. This shows a clear lack of commitment on part of the Government to provide universal treatment to the patients as it fails to make this therapy a legal right for them.
Second, the Bill insists upon maintaining confidentiality of HIV patients. They will not be under compulsion to reveal their status; it can be done only when desired by the patient or when there is a court order. Those found disclosing the identity would be liable as per the provisions of the Bill. It incorporates penalties, which includes a jail term of up to two years for those indulging in discriminatory practices.
Confidentiality is important because patients with HIV and AIDS face discrimination when other people come to know about the disease. Traditionally, HIV people have been a neglected lot due to the misconceptions associated with the disease. Clearly, there has been a growing sense of neglect. Patients have been at the receiving end of prejudice, negative attitudes, abuse and disdain – not only at work sphere, schools, colleges, but also from friends and family members, and even at hospitals.
A 30-year old woman from Meerut, who had contracted HIV through her husband, managed to keep her disease a secret for eight years. However, when she was admitted to a hospital for a Cesarean delivery, doctors pasted a piece of paper on her bed that said, ‘Bio-hazard positive’. They also put a red ribbon to announce that there was a patient in their hospital who was battling the deadly virus. The patient was abused by the hospital staff for transferring the disease to the new-born.
There have also been many instances of injustice meted out to little ones in school. In Goa, 13 positive orphans were denied the right to education because of strong objections from other parents who threatened the school management with withdrawal of their wards from the school. Tiny trots have been denied admission, turned back from school, treated badly, left segregated in one corner of the classroom, and made to sweep classroom floors.
The underlying aim of the Bill, however, remains to prevent and control the spread of the virus. According to the National AIDS Control Organisation, there has been a decline in HIV prevalence, but numbers are still high among vulnerable groups. Another UN report says that new HIV infections in India went down by 20 per cent between 2000 and 2014. Still, there are about 21 lakh HIV patients in the country.
As the figures show, from being considered to be a death sentence a few decades ago, HIV epidemic has substantially been addressed. But there’s a long way to change the trajectory of this epidemic to reach the global goal of ending this virus completely by 2030. The Bill, when passed in the Winter Session of Parliament next month, will fast-track this Sustainable Development Goal.
(The writer is a journalist with an interest in social issues)