AIDS and action

In one of those fortuitous coincidences, the Bombay High Court came up with an extremely important judgement just as the nation prepared ...

In one of those fortuitous coincidences, the Bombay High Court came up with an extremely important judgement just as the nation prepared to commemorate World AIDS Day which falls today. By ruling that a person cannot be denied employment only on the ground that she is HIV positive, the court has struck a blow not just for an individual’s constitutional rights, but for all Indians living with HIV/AIDS.

Despite the disease having been around in this country for nearly two decades now, despite the official figure pegging the number of the AIDS/HIV infected at 85,290 — the actual figure could be several times this — India has as yet been extremely laggard in putting a proper system to manage the disease in place. The kneejerk response of the authorities and the general public to it has only resulted in driving the disease underground.

Isolation and maltreatment is no answer. Instances of men being thrown out of their jobs when discovered to be suffering from AIDS; of widows of such men being driven fromtheir homes and villages; of medical personnel refusing to touch such patients, are a legion and are now slowly making it into the mainstream media. A great deal of such behaviour is dictated by the grossest ignorance and prejudice about the disease. In the face of this reality, those who suffer or who suspect that they suffer from the condition would much rather hide this fact and cope with the trauma as best they can rather than seek help. This is not a happy situation because it is in secrecy that the tragic malady proliferates. Instead of adopting the posture of the ostrich, it would be far more sensible for society to come to terms with the disease, understand its nature fully, put safeguards like screening the blood supplied to bloodbanks in place, and evolve humane and rational measures to manage it. Many African nations, having had to wrestle long and hard with rising deaths due to HIV/AIDS, have finally come round to the view that setting up care and regulatory regimes that are also sensitive to therights of the individual is a social imperative.

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The Zimbabwean Intersectoral Committee on AIDS And Employment was such an initiative. It came up with a national code that sought to protect employment opportunities for those living with HIV/AIDS.

The recent Bombay High Court judgment assumes great importance for precisely this reason — it could form the basis for such an exercise. The woman seeking employment in this case happened to be a widow with three minor children. Clearly a job was a crucial livelihood issue for her and her family. Besides, she was physically fit to discharge her duties as a clerk. This is just one case. There will be several hundreds in the years ahead.

Since 1994, almost every country in South and Southeast Asia has seen its HIV prevalence rates double and India is no exception. It would need more than a sensitive judiciary to provide an adequate response to this crisis-in-the-making.