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Arvin Panwar

Innovator, TEDxTokyo


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By 2010, 71% of countries had discrimination laws against HIV/AIDS. How far have they gone to enforce and execute them in practice?

I know there are strict laws in India about discriminating against caste, and people are well aware of the consequences one may face if he/she discriminates against someone based on caste. The same holds true for other discrimination policies like gender, color etc.
It's a fact that caste, gender, color, motherland, mother language, religion one is born in, etc are things which one cannot choose. India has strict discrimination policies for these things.

But doesn't HIV/AIDs fall in a similar category, at the very least for children who are born with this virus? Why don't we have strict discrimination policies in this case? And if they exist then why haven't governments taken measures to raise awareness about these policies? Why do we still see these kids being discriminated against? Why do we still see their parents and families suffering?

According to USAIDS in 2010, 71% of countries have laws prohibiting discrimination against people living with HIV, where does India stand?

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    Nov 1 2011: Hello Sabin,
    Even I'm new to this field but my wife who has pioneered work on this social issue in our state and has been working in this area since last many years shared her personal experiences with me today, when I was writing a project proposal on Social inclusion of HIV/AIDS patients at work places.
    She gave many examples, and the worst one was of a family, in north part of rural India, which was discriminated to such an extent, that the mother died not because of virus, but because of hunger, as she could not get any job to sustain her family. Her kids suffered discrimination in the schools and in their society too. Teachers and parents of other kids in school, didnt allow the HIV positive kids to play with their kids or even sit next to them.
    These people are suppressed at various levels and hence they endlessly suffer or that is one reason why not affected/effected people come forward.
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    Nov 1 2011: Interesting topic Arwin, until now I was not aware of discrimination against persons with HIV as a wide spread phenomenon. Could you share some examples of this?