KanglaonlineSpecial
Obama, AIDS & Manipur
By: S. Neken
After Apartheid, AIDS is Another Alert in African
and American nations. AIDS epidemic was born in America two and a half decades
ago. Many believe in the African origin theory of HIV/AIDS. So African-American
tie-up in the history of HIV/AIDS in the world cannot be ruled out. Out of
40.00 million people of the planet presently living with HIV, 1.2 are
Americans. There are around 12 million AIDS orphans in Africa. Globally, 8,000
deaths and 6,000 new infections occur every single day. No doubt, AIDS is set to
become the 3rd leading cause of death worldwide in the coming years.
Landmark election of an African American as the
Head of the Richest Country in the world marks the total end of racism in the
world. Barack Hussein Obama nicknamed "Barry" will be sworn in as
President of the United States on 20th January next year. It is indeed
legendary that a coloured man born to a Kenyan father will lead America to
higher esteem where Apartheid & Discrimination against which the father of
the nation M.K Gandhi and later Nelson Mandela fought for many years have no
room in the world. After a profound success in the war against racism, now
comes the turn of AIDS which remains a big global challenge to the new
president Obama. Not only America, Obama™s headache will be the AIDS burden in
African nations in particular and the world in general.
In his address on World AIDS Day two years ago, the
former Senator said œwe are all sick because of AIDS - and we are all tested by
this crisis. When you go to Africa, you will see this problem up close, you
realize that it's not a question of either treatment or prevention or even what
kind of prevention “ it is all of the above. It is not an issue of either
science or values “ it is both. Yes, there must be more money spent on this
disease. But there must also be a change in hearts and minds, in cultures and
attitudes. Neither philanthropist nor scientist, neither government nor church,
can solve this problem on their own - AIDS must be an all-hands-on-deck effort.
In one of evangelical discourse on sex and
sexuality in California, the Illinois Senator if condoms and potentially things
like Microbicides can prevent millions of deaths, then they should be made more
widely available. That's my belief.
Global leadership towards ending AIDS
As president of US, Obama will continue to be a
global leader in the fight against AIDS. He pledges to develop a National
HIV/AIDS Strategy to reduce HIV infections, increase access to care, and reduce
HIV-related health disparities. Fighting health disparities and improving
quality of life of people living with HIV/AIDS will be his major areas of
concern, besides expanding funding for vaccine and microbicides research. To
him, Microbicides is a tool to empower women in the battle against AIDS and the
dispute over condoms is a "false argument."
In addition to assuring access to treatment, Obama
believes in comprehensive age-appropriate sex education for preventing new
infections. To drive funding for HIV/AIDS programs, Obama supports adding an
additional $1 billion a year in new money over the next five years to
strengthen and expand the program to Southeast Asia, India, and Eastern Europe,
where the pandemic is expanding. Barack Obama is committed to increasing U.S.
investments in the capacity building needed to ensure that poor countries are
able to develop the health care infrastructure necessary to prevent and treat
HIV/AIDS, promote basic health care and also increasing U.S. contributions to
the Global Fund for AIDS, Malaria, and TB. Barack Obama believes that people in
developing countries living with HIV/AIDS should have access to safe,
affordable generic drugs to treat HIV/AIDS. As president, Barack Obama will
double U.S. foreign assistance from $25 billion per year to $50 billion per
year to ensure the U.S. does its share to meet the Millennium Development
Goals. Obama will dedicate as much funding to HIV/AIDS as possible “ without
cutting into other critical foreign assistance programs “ to ensure a
comprehensive fight against this global pandemic.
Vision for an AIDS free Manipur
Second line ART drugs will be available in Manipur
by 1st December this year. It is a good news to people living with HIV,
fighting for their lives. With the opening of first ART centre in Manipur in
2004, there are at present six ART centres. Out of estimated 30000 PLHAs, 5000
are receiving ART drugs from these centre.
IDU prevalence of HIV has drastically been reduced
due to success of RIAC programme in the state. Coverage of sex workers, MSM and
spouses of IDUs under intervention programmes have remarkably increased during
the last few years. Testing and counseling services have improved both in
quality and quantity. All facets of HIV prevention, intervention and care have
undergone changes to a positive direction. However, trend of epidemic never
altered.
Halt and reverse the HIV epidemic by 2012 is the
vision of the third phase of National AIDS Control Programme in India. The
guiding principles are quite good – one agreed national action framework, one
agreed monitoring and evaluation system and one agreed national coordinating
authority. Decentralisation at the grassroots level, community involvement,
social ownership and an enabling environment are the keywords in implementing
HIV/AIDS control programme in this five year span of HIV/AIDS prevention
effort. Except for the state of Manipur, the phase-III of NACP already started
by 2006.
The slow pace of programme implementation coupled
with lack of quality leadership has maligned the aesthetic side of the national
programme in Manipur. Although Manipur ranks the highest HIV concentrated
states of India in terms of its positivity per thousand population, the state
could not start the NACP III due to internal crises among the programme pilots.
Thanks to fighters for pilot-ship without pondering anything about passengers
on board who are suffering and the next generation due to be extinct only
because of AIDS.
In spite of relentless efforts by social
organizations, NGOs and government, the pace of the epidemic never decelerates.
It continues to kill, it still infects, women and children being soft targets.
Out of around 30,000 HIV positives in Manipur, one-third is women. The story of
HIV in Manipur dates back in 1990, when the first report of infection came from
among the Injecting Drug Users. Now, the epidemic has turned 20 years in the
state. Sentinel surveillance reports for the year 2007 need to be analyzed to
trace the trend of the epidemic in the state. Out of every 1000 women pregnant,
13 are HIV positive. It means that for every 50,000 pregnancies in the state in
a year, 650 are in HIV infected mothers. Manipur will be proud to have around
200 HIV infected newborns every year. If the trend continues, let us visualize
how many of our young population will survive after 50 years from now. In the
course of the 50 years, there will be only elder persons and small babes in
most households in Manipur.
Manipur & its unique charms:
As the state’s rich fauna, flora and excellence
in arts and sports always attract the world, Manipur’s topography, social and
cultural environment always charm HIV to haunt it’s youths. The state shares
357 km border with Myanmar. People in neighbouring villages of both the
countries use to frequent each other. By the way, drugs and sexual activities
from across international border help expansion of HIV epidemic in remote
villages of Manipur. Its proximity with Golden Triangle and its being a transit
drug route facilitate rampant spread of the virus. No doubt, Churachandpur,
Ukhrul and Chandel districts share long borders with other states.
Besides, there are not less than 30 different
groups of people following varied cultures, traditions and customs. Lack of
transport and communication between one village to another, and also language
and cultural barrier among different groups pose a challenge to fighting
HIV/AIDS. Bad topographic features play a hurdle in providing health facilities
across the state. Unchecked youth behaviour, glamorous media, cultural invasion
and lack of social ownership and responsibility are factors contributing to HIV
spread among young people in the state.
All types of HIV are available in Manipur. It comes
through sex “ from across international boundaries and from across Indian
states. It has come through sharing of drug equipments – from across
international borders and from within India too. Both sex and drugs have played
critical roles in expanding HIV burden in the state. It is further escalated by
mother to child HIV transmission due to lack of care and support.
Challenges ahead
HIV has different implications to different people.
An innocent young widow who got the gift from her husband always wished if she
had insisted on a voluntary HIV test before marriage. Laments from HIV positive
drug users always blame ignorance. If he/she had had the knowledge about
HIV/AIDS, life would not be as dramatic as it is today. Sex workers often blame
their fates for they only indulged in risky activities only to earn and feed
their children. Truck drivers, security-men and migrants who stayed away from
home for months thought if they insisted on correct condom uses. One or the
other always blame ignorance and unavailability of services. All are the things
of the past. Now, there is no lack of information, there are no dearth of
services. We have everything here or there “ only thing is our commitment, our
responsibility and our love for the mankind.
There are challenges ahead of us – HIV
intervention yet to reach remote villages in the border. The burden of young
widows due to AIDS and drugs has to be served with economic and social
rehabilitation. Orphans need to be major focus area in HIV/AIDS control
programme as the new era of widows and orphans is near to us. Academic
community and research scholars should be utilized to find out social remedies
to fighting unsafe youth behaviours and the negative impact of cultural
invasion in Manipur.
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