[op-ed snap] Tackling HIV



From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

Prelims level: United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)

Mains level: Stigma associated with HIV/AIDS in India & how it affects various policies being framed to bring down incidences of this disease


UNAIDS report: Reduction in HIV incidence

  2. Between 2010 and 2017, several countries made rapid progress in reducing HIV incidence and getting antiretroviral therapy to patients
  3. While the largest reduction in incidence came from eastern and southern Africa, Asia also made gains
  4. India, in particular, brought down the number of new cases and deaths by 27% and 56%, respectively, between 2010 and 2017

Efforts by India

  1. With 2.1 million cases, India is among the largest burden countries in the world
  2. Tuberculosis is the biggest killer of HIV patients across the world
  3. India is now able to treat over 90% of notified TB patients for HIV
  4. The social stigma surrounding AIDS-infected people in India, while high, is declining slowly too

Gaps in policy

  2. These include men who have sex with other men, people who inject drugs, and sex workers
  3. Indian laws don’t do well on this count
  5. Studies show that fear of prosecution under such laws prevents homosexual men, drug users and sex workers from seeking HIV screening and treatment

What needs to be done?

  2. Short of changing the law, the Centre can consider targeted interventions
  3. An experiment in Karnataka, between 2004 and 2011, shows that sensitising police personnel and educating female sex workers can greatly reduce arbitrary police raids and arrests

Way Forward

  1. The right to health is universal


United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)

  3. UNAIDS seeks to prevent the HIV/AIDS epidemic from becoming a severe pandemic
  4. UNAIDS is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland
  5. It is a member of the United Nations Development Group
  6. UNAIDS has five goals:
  • Leadership and advocacy for effective action on the pandemic
  • Strategic information and technical support to guide efforts against AIDS worldwide
  • Tracking, monitoring and evaluation of the pandemic and of responses to it
  • Civil society engagement and the development of strategic partnerships
  • Mobilization of resources to support an effective response
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